Pokemon: A Christmas Special
by evanscinemas1
Summary: Ash and company are well into their adult lives, with families and children of their own. Every year they gather for Christmas, but this year might prove more eventful than normal. Ash&Misty Pairing. May&OC. Gary&Serena.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello Pokemon World! I have some info for you before you begin reading, but if your not one for author's notes, then just skip right on ahead. This is a standalone story, but it takes place within the established continuity of my other stories. This one can be read as a separate piece, without needing to have read my other ones. To help alleviate any confusion that may possibly pop up in something that is said, or done by the characters, I will be giving you guys the character pairings before hand, and their families. Names and ages, that sort of thing :)**

 **As I go down the list, I will put the parent's first, followed by their kids.**

 **Name/Age**

 **The Ketchum's**

 **Ash - 43**

 **Misty - 44**

 **Del (Delia) - 18**

 **Kaiden - 16**

 **Logan - 8**

 **The Oak's**

 **Gary - 43**

 **Serena - 37**

 **Sam - 8**

 **The Harrison's**

 **Brock - 48**

 **Darcy (Twin) - 18**

 **Brent (Twin) - 18**

 **The Turner's**

 **Cameron (OC) - 46**

 **May - 41**

 **Simon - 17**

 **Ally - 16**

 **The Silver's**

 **Lance - 53  
**

 **Dawn - 39**

 **Lily - 8**

 **Other character's that make an appearance**

 **Iris - 36  
**

 **Cilan - 37**

 **Max - 30**

 **Bonnie - 30**

 **Clemont - 37**

 **Yes, I know, some people may find a few of the pairings a bit odd, but it was the way they worked out in my other stories! Trust me, they worked in a weird way lol. Anyway, a bit more info. If you think you might hop on over to my other stuff after you've read this, and want to avoid minor spoilers, skip on ahead now.**

 **Still here?**

 **Ok, then.**

 **Pikachu isn't in this story, due to reasons I won't reveal. Neither are Professor Oak, or Ash's mother. Ash is Champion, and also quite a bit more mature (though he still maintains his old habits occasionally). A lot of his maturity comes from an Earth threatening war that took place, which nearly wiped out all life. Dawn and Lance are divorced. Crimson is a crime organization, similar to Team Rocket (It only gets a mention, or two).**

 **For those of you following my Next Generation short stories, and are wondering why this was published as its own entry, that is because of the overall length of it. It ended up being over 20,000 words so I figured it deserved it's own published title! Also, so others who aren't following the overall story could read and enjoy a Pokemon Christmas Special :)**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

That time of year had fallen upon New Pallet. The temperature was far too low, requiring multiple layers of clothing for travel, snow blanketed the ground like a massive sheet, stretching as far as the eye could see, colorful decorations and ornaments of all kinds hung from every house, every fence, every lamp post, placed and positioned in yards and along sidewalks. Yes, it was that time of year for the residents of the quiet little town. It was Christmas! Everyone's favorite holiday, and being this wonderful time of year meant Ash Ketchum was outside. Suffering the cold to hang up the decorations Misty was adamant, be in place. He groaned, seeing his breath billow away in the crisp wind, "It's so _friggin_ cold!"

Slowly he moved one more step up the ladder he was standing on, taking care not to let his foot slip as he ascended. In his free hand he clutched a long string of lights, each bulb fashioned to resemble different types of Pokémon. From Squirtle to Totodile, and Raichu to Geodude, each bulb was unique in shape and color. Currently his job was half done, and he was applying the last of the lights to the house. Next up was the yard, which his children should have started by now. Of course, acting as he would've at their age, they were taking their sweet time at the store. More than likely stalling to avoid the laborious task Misty had assigned them. He wanted to be angry at their tardiness, but he couldn't help but envy them instead. Lucky kids...

He sniffed, exhaling once again and seeing his foggy breath blow away. As he clipped the last bulb in place, finishing his task, something cracked beneath him. Every muscle in his body stiffened as he froze, waiting for the inevitable. When nothing happened, he slowly tilted his head down to see the cause of the noise. A thin layer of ice between the ladder and the gutter had simply formed a crack in its surface, nothing to worry about...ICE?! Why did he put the ladder against I-

CRACK!

The layer of ice shattered, and the ladder tilted harshly to the right. Out of reaction, he leaned to the left, which turned out to be a mistake as the sudden weight shift caused the metal ladder to slip off the remainder of the ice.

"SHIT!" Was all he could get out before he dropped to the ground. Vanishing into the snow with a dull poof that threw white particles into the air. The ladder clanged against the side of his home and fell, throwing up its own layer of snow. His cheeks burned from the piercing cold of snowflakes on his skin, but he didn't move to wipe them away. Didn't move to even sit up. Not that he hurt, the natural pillow of winter had softened his landing. Ash just needed a moment to process his own error. He contemplated lying there, and not moving until Misty returned home and scolded him for not finishing the decorations, but a girlish giggle brought him back to reality.

"Are you okay?" The same female voice asked with amusement, and he heard the crunching of snow beneath feet as they approached. His vision was filled with blue as a pretty woman with dark blue eyes, and matching color hair, leaned over him. She wore a soft, yet smug smile, was clad in a black and white beanie atop her head, and sporting a bright pink hoodie with a black carhartt jacket over that. "I think you are. I've only seen you fall like that at least a thousand times."

"Very funny Dawn," he mumbled, finally sitting up. "I could've been hurt."

"Please," she waved her hand, but added with a wink. "Don't be dramatic."

Dawn extended her gloved hand to help him up, which he took. He brushed snow off his clothes as he righted himself, and turned to face the bluenette, "A little early aren't you?"

"I needed something to do," she shrugged. "And you look like you could use some help."

"Eh? I fall like that every year, er- I mean-"

"Why does that not surprise me," she flashed that smug smile of hers, narrowing her eyes as she did so.

"Shut up," Ash told her with a laugh. "Well, I'm pretty much done until the kids get back with the yard stuff. So come on in. I need to warm up for a second anyway."

To help sell his point, he rubbed his gloved hand together rapidly, getting an eye roll from Dawn. As they proceeded around the house, and up onto the porch, Ash asked, "Where's Lily?"

"She's with her father," was the reply. Though he noticed a drop in her tone. "She'll be here later though. She's very excited to see Logan and Sam."

"Good," he nodded as he pulled open the front door and waited for Dawn to enter first. "Logan has been driving me crazy asking if she was coming."

"A stubborn pest just like his father," Dawn poked fun at him, sliding off her carhartt and hanging it on the coat rack by the door.

"More like an annoying menace like his mother," Ash countered, shutting the door and unzipping his own heavy brown jacket.

"Don't let Misty hear you say that," she said as she looked around the room. A large pine tree, decorated with dozens upon dozens of Christmas ornaments, sat opposite the brown leather couch, just across from the coffee table in the center of the room. Two armchairs were on opposite ends of the table, facing each other. The fireplace on the far wall flickered with the warmth of a fire as it burned brightly, casting long shadows along the green, almost blue, carpet, and seeming to make the tan walls dance with stars.

"Yea, I wouldn't survive the holidays," he chuckled. "She'd be serving roast Ash instead of roast ham." He placed his own coat beside Dawn's and went further into the house, heading for the kitchen. "Coffee should still be warm if you want some."

"Yes please," she said eagerly, stepping in line behind him.

* * *

"Dude, that's fugly," a raven haired girl of about eighteen, with deep brown eyes, raised her brow. She wore a bright yellow hoodie, an old orange rucksack hanging from her back, and had her long hair up in a ponytail. "Mom would kill you if you put that up yard."

"I bet she wouldn't even notice," her two years younger brother tried to convince himself. He was in a blue jacket, with a black v-neck underneath. The same dark colored hair adorned the top of his head, jutting out in a chaotic mess all directions. His eyes were much different than his sisters however, being a gentle aquamarine that sparkled brightly. "I'm getting it."

Kaiden and Del Ketchum stood in the superstore downtown, searching for the last minute decorations they had been tasked with finding. Currently they had a shopping cart full of many Christmas decor, but Kaiden had spotted an overdecorated Pikachu figurine that was half his height. The Santa clothed Pokémon was in a sleigh, with a single Stantler pulling the cart. The entire display was layered with multiple lights that Del had a sinking feeling were all different colors.

"There's no way I can talk you out of it?" She asked defeatedly, knowing the answer beforehand.

"Nope!" He grinned crookedly wide, snatching the heavy box from the shelf and struggling to dump it in their cart. Del sighed, and walked on, leading Kaiden further into the store to look for more decorations.

"You think dad will be mad we're taking so long?" He asked as they turned down an isle that had a couple awing over a Delibird blow up lantern.

"Nah, he'll be fine," Del answered him, stopping and plucking a few wreaths from the shelf. "We'll get some eggnog in him and he'll forget all about it."

"You think they'll let me try some this year?"

"Doubt it. Dad spikes that stuff way to strong."

Kaiden's eyes suddenly widened, "That's why I've never been allowed to drink it?! They put alcohol in there!"

Del faced him slowly, blinking once for effect. "Wow. Don't tell me you've just now figured that out?"

"Have they let you try it?"

"No..."

"I sense a but coming."

"But, I am this year. I'm sneaking some."

Kaiden shook his head, "You know Mom will catch you."

"I'm 18," Del stressed loudly. "I should be able to drink something with alcohol in it."

"Even though you gotta be 21?"

"Minor details," she scoffed.

"Ally said her mom gave her a sip once," Kaiden recalled, placing a finger to his chin. "Now that I think about it."

" _See_ ," the girl said as if she had proven her point. "Tonight I'm trying some, so be a good boy and not tell." Kaiden suddenly cracked into a wide, devilish smile that unsettled his sister. She knew what was coming, and had an answer before he could ask, "Fine, I'll get you some too."

"Booyah!" He pumped his fist. "Let's hurry this up then so we can get back home."

"That won't make the party get here any sooner," she called after him as he pushed the cart lightning quick down the isle.

"Sure it will!" He shouted back, and vanished around the bend. CRASH! A woman's yelp of surprise followed the loud clang of metal and various items hitting the floor. Del winced as she imagined her brother flipping forward into their cart, and could hear him babbling incoherent apologies to the woman. With a sigh, she walked after him.

* * *

Dawn laughed out loud, so hard she snorted on accident and slapped a palm to her mouth to prevent her from doing so again. It didn't work. Her cheeks flushed red as she tried to maintain her composure, but another fit of giggles overtook her and she could feel the hot tears forming at the corner of her eyes.

"It's not that funny!" Ash protested, rubbing his rear where a large singe mark had burnt a hole through his jeans. Dawn sucked in a quick breath and held it in as she looked back to Ash from across the kitchen table. Seeing the small wisp of smoke rise off the rear of his pants, her breath exploded out of her in another loud snorting laugh, and she nearly collapsed out of her chair.

Ash deadpanned and opened his mouth to tell her to shut it, but a female voice came from the entrance to the kitchen, "What's so funny?"

A brown haired woman, with bright blue eyes and a kind face stopped in the door frame. She was wearing a green blouse, with a matching color bandanna. Behind her was a teenage girl with the same color hair and facial features, except her eyes were a bright green. She was also wearing red instead of green.

"A-A-A-Ash...," was all Dawn could get out before she was snorting with laughter once more, kicking her feet from the tightness forming in her gut.

"Hey May, Ally," Ash greeted flatly. "Dawn here thinks it's funny that I leaned against the stove while the door was open and nearly caught my _ass_ on fire, literally."

May's face faltered with her own amusement, but unlike Dawn, she kept her composure. "Why was the stove open while on?"

"Misty called and tasked me with starting the friggin cookies," he explained, shooting Dawn a dirty look as she made a comment under her breath about his cooking skills and she burst into laughter once again. " _She_ -" he pointed to he bluenette accusingly. "Distracted me and I leaned back to conversate, and this happened."

He turned to show the large burn spot on his jeans, and May couldn't keep it together anymore. She joined Dawn in laughter. Even Ally had to place her palm against her mouth to keep from collapsing into a fit of giggles.

"Oh haha, laugh at my expense," Ash sulked. "You three can do the cookies. I'm going to change my damn pants."

And he pushed his way out of the kitchen past May and Ally. Stomping up the stairs for dramatic effect. Only when his footsteps died down did Dawn finally get control of herself, "Oh Lord." She wiped the tears from her eyes using the underside of her wrists. "I needed a good laugh like that."

"Leave it to Ash to give it too," May commented, mimicking the bluenette's hand motions. "Guess I better see where he was at with the cookies."

"About to put them in," Dawn replied with a grin as May and Ally fully entered the kitchen. "That's when I apparently distracted him."

She gestured to the countertop by the stove, where a baking sheet with random blotches of dough covered the top. Ally took a seat at the table by Dawn while May sighed at the state of the cookie sheet. As the older brunette set to work fixing the cookie dough to be more aligned, Dawn snatched her coffee from the table and turned to Ally, "So how goes the Mediocre Contest Circuit?"

"So far so good," the teenager beamed, answering while Dawn took a long sip from her mug. "I've got four ribbons total, and I recently caught a Dratini. I'm hoping it can help me win my last ribbon."

"A Dratini?" Dawn asked in awe, lowering the hot liquid back to the table. "Those are rare. How'd you pull that off?"

Ally's face slightly flushed a light shade of pink before she answered, and she scratched her cheek as she said, "Well it was kinda because of Kaiden. I fished Dratini out of a pond and it wrapped around his head."

"Are all the Ketchum boys walking disasters?" Dawn quipped, turning to May for confirmation.

"Growing up with Ash, and hearing stories about Kaiden, I can only assume Logan is the same way. So yes," May giggled, putting the now perfect sheet of cookies into the oven. She closed the door and turned the timer to an appropriate time before joining the other two girls at the table.

"I wouldn't say disaster," Ally mumbled quietly, turning a little more pink and looking to the table. This made the older women exchange a knowing look.

"What word would you use?" Dawn prodded, giving Ally a nudge with her elbow. "Cute? Heroic? Man of your dreams?"

The reaction was instantaneous, and expected. The younger brunette's face exploded in an incredibly bright red, and her eyes bugged out. "No! Nothing like that! We're just friends! Kaiden and I are just friends."

"I don't think I said Kaiden?" The bluenette mused wonderingly. "Did I May?"

"No I don't believe so," she joined in, putting a finger to her chin. "Now that I think of it. Ally has been excited for this party. I wonder why that could be?"

"She sees Kaiden all the time since they're traveling together," Dawn added, putting on a show of strenuous thinking. "Could it be something to do with Christmas time?"

"What's different during Christmas that's not part of the rest of the year?"

"Mmmmmm, Mistletoe's?"

"That's it!" May snapped her fingers in realization. By this point, Ally was steaming at the ears from embarrassment and her entire body was turning redder and redder with each passing second.

"It's not anything like that!" She nearly shouted, trying to sound angry, but coming off as defensive.

"What's the matter Ally?" Dawn continued to tease the young girl. "Afraid someone will see you cornering Kaiden under the mistletoe?"

"I have to use the bathroom!" The teenager suddenly declared and was up and racing out of the room before the two older women could say another word. When her footsteps hit the stairs, a loud man's voice yelled in surprise, followed by a girly squeak and a dull thump.

"She just ran into Ash," May sighed with a slow shake of her head. And sure enough, Ash himself soon walked into the kitchen, scratching the back of his head curiously.

"Ally looked kinda sick," he said. "Is she ok?"

Both Dawn and May exchanged another knowing look, and in sync stated, "A little love sick."

Ash blinked twice and then suddenly looked horrified, "Wait, you don't mean-"

"No not with you, you narcissistic dingbat," Dawn quickly cut him off, face palming herself with a loud smack. "Your son."

"Logan?"

There was a double wooden thump from both women's foreheads falling to the table.

* * *

"Flight 639 will be landing in approximately ten minutes. Be advised, the boarding gate has changed to Viridian 45B. Thank you and have a wonderful Holiday!" The intercom clicked and the pleasant woman's voice vanished.

"Flight 639? Isn't that the flight they're on?" A beautiful honey blonde haired woman asked her friend, who was sitting directly beside her on one of the uncomfortable benches.

Her friend, a fiery orange haired woman, knit her brow together as she quickly ran the number through her head. "Yes, it is. Guess we need to change gates so they don't think we forgot them."

"Bonnie would never let me hear the end of it," Serena stated with dread as if they _had_ forgotten their friends.

"Well we've got ten minutes to get over there, so I think we'll be ok," Misty chuckled, rising from her seat and stretching her back by raising her arms high above her head. "Come on, let's get some coffee on the way."

The two women set off through the crowded airport, navigating their way through people in a rush to catch their last minute flights for the holidays. People returning home to see family and friends, people who still had to work and were on a business venture, or people like them. Only there to pick someone up and hopefully get out of the airport in one piece.

Serena straightened the deep purple scarf that adorned her neck, letting the ends trail down her red and black shirt. In her arms she carried her winter coat, a bright pink, massively fluffy Fever jacket, and her red handheld purse. Misty strutted through the crowd, maneuvering fluidly through with her hands stuffed into the pockets of her yellow hoodie. They came upon the coffee stand in the food court, quickly getting in line before it could grow any longer. Misty stood up on her tiptoes to see how long they would have to wait, and seeing how fast the barista's were working, decided they would have plenty of time to get their drinks and make it to the gate to retrieve Clemont and Bonnie.

"What time will Iris and Cilan be arriving?" Serena asked, adjusting her coat and purse so she could hold them easier while they stood.

"Much later," the red head replied, dropping back down to her normal height. "They're going to call a cab because it will be so late. They didn't want us to wait around the airport for so long."

"Oh, how late is much later?"

"Like right about the time the party starts."

"Well we'd only be here for…" Serena quickly did math in her head. "Seven hours…Oh my, I didn't realize their flight would be so long."

"Unova is really far," Misty nodded. "And they've already been in the air for three."

The two continued to chat about flying, the times they had to be on long plane rides, and their own personal horror stories about their fellow passengers, until the line was suddenly much shorter and they were standing at the register.

"What can I get you ladies?" A tan skinned woman asked happily, flashing a wide smile.

"Columbian, Dark Roast," Misty told her.

"Same," Serena nodded. The barista set to work immediately and had their drinks ready to go in a flash. After a quick debate between the two friends about who insisted on paying, Serena ended up handing over the correct amount of change and they stepped aside so others could order. Misty dumped nearly triple the amount of sugar into her cup than Serena, causing the blonde to blanch.

"How can you stand that much sugar?!" She asked incredulously.

"How can you stand only two packs?" Misty retaliated, raising her cup to her lips and taking a sip as if she were being defiant.

"I like to taste my coffee, not coffee flavored sugar," was Serena's counter, and she too took a sip, sighing as the warm liquid traveled down her throat and left a warming sensation that tingled out to her fingertips.

They continued to debate as they left the coffee stand and once again were making their way through the sea of people. As they approached Viridian Gate 45B and found a bench for them to sit on, they found equal ground in making fun of the way both Ash and Gary drank their coffee. Both would add sugar, creamer, and milk, completely dissipating any sign or taste of the drink.

"How are thing's with Gary," Misty asked suddenly, choosing her tone carefully.

Serena hesitated a moment, but gently smiled and replied, "Good. Things have been getting better. It was rough there for a while, but we've got things back on track."

"That's wonderful to hear," Misty smiled back. "It can't be easy being married to Gary. At least you guys tough through the rough patches. Some people could learn a lesson from you guys."

She played it off in her tone, but Serena faintly picked up on Misty's disdain in her own obvious reference to Lance and Dawn. That whole situation might have happened years ago, but it was a nasty burn that still resided in most of their minds, especially Misty's. Even if she was good at not letting it show. But Serena saw through her attempts to hide it, and she didn't blame her friend for being angry with the situation still. She'd heard the stories. Ash, Misty, Dawn, and Lance wen't through Hell and back in Sinnoh during the Dominion war. For something like that to happen in a group that had grown so close, was devastating.

"I'm sorry," Misty solemnly added. "I shouldn't bring that up."

"Bring what up?" Serena was quick to reply, giving her friend the chance to swerve away from the uncomfortable topic. Catching the gist of what the honey blonde was doing, Misty smiled gratefully and took a long sip from her warm drink.

"Anyway, Gary and I have always had ups and down, and I imagine we always will," the honey blonde said. "It's who we are."

"Ash and I are right about the same, now that I really think about it," Misty thought out loud.

"It must be the men," Serena pointed out nonchalantly, taking a drink as Misty chuckled.

"Must be-"

"SERENA! MISTY!" The sudden shout made the two of them jump with wide eyes, and a petite lemon blonde haired girl practically crashed into them as she came to an abrupt halt only two inches from their bench.

"Bonnie!" Serena exclaimed happily, rising to her feet to receive the bone cracking hug from the younger woman. "How was your flight?" She managed to get out with a grunt.

"It was awesome!" She cried excitedly, hardly taking a breath. "We flew over Sinnoh, and got to see the massive mountain! Even though I've seen it before, it's still so cool! And then Kanto has so many landmarks and Mt. Silver is just as awesome to see from so high up!"

"Where's your brother?" Misty asked through the amused grin plastered on her expression. Bonnie could sure talk fast.

"Oh!" The young blonde suddenly noticed Clement wasn't around, and she stood up on her tiptoes as high as she could. Peering back from whatever direction she had came. "He was right behind me?"

"I'm here!" A tired voice called out, and the lemon haired boy appeared through the crowd. Clutching his side and breathing hard. "Bonnie took off the second we stepped off the plane."

"Sounds right," Serena giggled. "How was your flight Clemont?"

He grimaced and gave Bonnie a pointed look that made her blush and look away as if she didn't notice. "Bonnie asked every single girl, EVERY single girl, if they wanted to date me."

The young blonde couldn't resist replying, "You're getting old Clemont! You've gotta find somebody soon or you're going to die alone!"

"I'm only thirty seven!" He defended loudly. "That's no where near old!"

"It is when you should've had someone way before my age!"

"I-"

"Okay," Misty stood up abruptly, cutting off their dispute. "I suggest we head out. We can snag some food before we drive back to Pallet."

"Oh I'm starving!" Bonnie shouted, not noticing the change of topic. "Let's go!"

She took off in the lead, strutting through the airport and awing at all the people. As the other three fell in line behind her, Misty lagged back by Clemont and whispered so only he could hear, "Don't worry. You'll be able to get her back tonight."

He frowned and looked curious, "How so?"

"Max will be there."

* * *

"Sam, Logan, hand me those notes and that thermometer," Gary said, pointing behind him without taking his eyes off the baby Nidoran before him. Two young boys, no older than eight, immediately scrambled for the items he had requested. One had dirty blonde hair that spiked out all directions, and dark powerful eyes The other had flaming orange hair with a natural unkemptness about it, and green eyes.

They snatched the two items from the wooden table on the far wall, and raced back to the researchers side. Gary took the thermometer from Logan and gently spoke to the tiny Pokémon, "This won't hurt you, I promise. We just need to check your body temperature."

It groaned from its place on the table, shivering from a pain that shot through its tiny body. It was lying on a large round pillow, with a lukewarm heat lamp pointed its direction. Softly he stroked the Nidoran between the ears, placing the thermometer against its tiny jaws. Reluctantly, Nidoran opened its mouth, and Gary slid the thermometer under its tongue.

Both Logan and Sam watched with bated breath, clinging to Gary's arm and twisting the fabric of his white lab coat. Not that he noticed, his face was contorted into one of concentration as he watched the thermometers digital numbers slowly climbing. As it passed by 95 degrees, his dark eyes flicked to the notepad Sam had sat beside the Nidoran.

"Its body temperature should baseline at roughly 82 degrees," he said aloud, his tone urgent. "Sam, go get the ice pack from the freezer, hurry."

"Ok dad!" The young brown haired boy nodded vigorously, and swept out of the lab in a rush. Logan's green eyes followed Sam out, and then swiveled back to the Nidoran when he was gone.

"Will it be alright Professor Oak?" He asked timidly.

"It will be just fine," Gary nodded, turning to the young boy. "All we need to do is bring its temperature down, and let it rest."

Logan looked visibly relieved, and he nodded. Gary removed the thermometer as he noticed the number was holding at 97 degrees. He, however, continued to rub the Nidoran just behind he ears, attempting to soothe the aching Pokémon.

"Logan, in the drawer over there," he pointed to a desk to his right, sitting beside a large piece of machinery with a monitor. "There's some medicine in there that will help. Get it please?"

"Yes sir," the boy acknowledged and walked away. In less than a minute, he was back, holding a compact green bottle. "Is this it?"

"That's it," Gary nodded. "Take on of those pills and give it to Nidoran would you?"

"Me?"

Gary nodded with a smile, and Logan blinked twice before he unscrewed the cap and dumped a tiny green pill into his palm, which gave off a faint fruity smell. Uneasily he extended his hand to the Pokémon, holding it just before the Nidoran's snout. It sniffed a couple times, and fluttered open its eyes, seeing the pill in Logan's palm. It cast him a wary glance, but slowly reached out and took the pill in its jaws. Its rough skin tickled Logan's but he remained motionless as he watched Nidoran begin to chew.

"Is it better now?" He asked, pulling his hand back to his side.

"Not quite," Gary told him with a smile. "It will take some time for the medicine to work."

"How long?"

"Oh an hour or so."

Just then, Sam came back into the lab with the ice pack, "I got it!"

He ran over to them, and handed Gary the blue bag. "Thank's Sam." He rested the cool bag atop Nidoran's head, replacing his gentle rubbing with a cool sensation that immediately had its effects. The Pokémon sighed and closed its eyes, letting its ragged breathing fall into an easy pattern.

"And now we can only let it rest," he said to the boys, standing up and straightening his lab coat.

"Will it be ok?" Sam asked urgently, giving his father a pleading look.

It was Logan who answered, "It will be in about an hour, right Professor?"

Gary couldn't help but smile at the pair of them, "I believe so yes, now let's go so Nidoran can rest without listening to you two babbling on all day."

"Hey we don't babble," Logan argued as Gary placed a hand on his back and began leading him to the door.

"We have intellectual debates about our opinions on Pokémon, and which ones are more awesome!" Sam said smartly, crossing his arms as he too was led to the door.

"Charmander all the way," Logan declared proudly.

"What? No way, Squirtle is the best," Sam argued back.

"Fire is better than water."

"Water puts out fire genius."

"Well I can turn you into steam!"

"Only if you're hot enough! And a little Charmander won't be hot enough."

"Well-"

"Like I said," Gary interrupted as he shut the lab door behind them. "Babbling."

Both boys immediately went quiet, turning a bright red. Gary laughed and continued as he began walking down the hall, "Come on. We need to get our things together for the party at Logan's tonight."

"Its going to be so much fun!" Logan proclaimed to Sam loudly as they followed. "I can't wait to see Lilly!"

"Me either," he grinned wide. "I'm going to eat more cookies than her this year. Just wait and see!"

"Dude she kicks your butt every year!"

"Well this year will be different!"

"I bet she still wins."

"How about I make you shut up."

"How so? Are you going to make a Squirtle turn me into steam?"

"That would be the other way around Logan! Fire turns water into steam!"

"Just because-"

"Babbling!" Gary called back with a wisecracking grin, and both boys instantly went silent once again. "Now you hear that? That's the sweet sound of silence I never get to hear."

The two boys flushed, exchanging an embarrassed glance. As they walked on through the massive Oak Manor, Logan's thoughts drifted back to the Nidoran, and he cast a look back down the hall.

* * *

"Dad," Kaiden called as he opened the front door to his home, letting in a blast of cold air that was squashed from the warmth of inside. "We're home with the stuff."

He stepped aside so Del could waltz in, each of them stopping on the doormat to kick off the snow on their shoes.

"In the Kitchen," they heard their father call through the house, and Kaiden shut the door as the siblings walked further into the living room.

"You wouldn't believe the amount of people at the store-" Kaiden began saying as he entered the kitchen removing his coat. He stopping in place when he saw a flash of blue hair and was suddenly caught in a suffocating hug. "Gwah! It's nice to see you to Aunt Dawn."

He awkwardly returned to hug from his caught off guard position, and the bluenette let him go. Taking a step back to see him fully. "Oh my you've gotten so handsome! Where did you get your looks? Certainly not your father."

"Hey!" Ash scoffed a little hurt, placing a palm against his heart. "That hurts."

Dawn waved for him to be quiet and continued, "Del! You've gotten so pretty! And your hair is so long!"

She swooped away from Kaiden to seize his sister in a crushing hug, giving him full view of the room. His father sat at the head of the kitchen table, one hand around a coffee cup and the other scratching his head. May was beside the stove, shutting the door as she placed a tray of freshly done cookies on the countertop. Ally looked a little red in face, had she been running? But she sat a seat away from Ash, watching Dawn with a careful eye.

The bluenette let go of Del, who was smiling just as wide, and asked, "How's the traveling been going? See anything crazily awesome?"

"I've seen so many things!" The Ketchum daughter said with great emphasis. "And I'm not done. I plan to see everything the world has to offer."

"Now who does that sound like?" May asked from the other side of the room.

"Like her Aunt Dawn of course!" The bluenette winked to Del, interrupting Ash before he could say his piece. The black haired girl giggled at the annoyed expression on her fathers face.

Kaiden sidled into the chair beside Ally, putting his coat on its back. "Where's Simon? And your dad?"

Ally opened her mouth to answer him, but Ash leaned forward and said, "Don't get comfortable yet Kaid. Don't you still need to put up the yard decorations?"

"Can't I do that in a minute?" His son asked wearily. "The store drained my energy."

"I don't mind," Ash shrugged, turning his head to look at the clock above the stove and May's head. "But your mother should be home in about fifteen minutes or so, so it'd be-"

"We got it covered!" Kaiden exclaimed, jumping to his feet and snatching his coat.

"I'll help," Ally offered, imitating his actions.

"I knew I could count on you," he beamed and hurried around the table, grabbing his sister by the shoulder and hauling her away from Dawn. "Come on, mom will be here soon."

The three teenagers vanished from the room, leaving Dawn with her mouth open, mdway through her conversation with the Ketchum daughter.

"Well then," she huffed, spinning in place and returning to her seat by Ash.

May joined them, sitting opposite Dawn, and blinked a few times at the doorway where their kids had vanished. "Kaiden is just like Ash."

Both Dawn and the man in question turned to face her with curious stares, so May continued, "Ally blushed the minute he walked in, and gave a dozen other signs in that short time frame, and Kaiden didn't even notice a single one."

"What do you mean?" Ash frowned with a blink. "I didn't notice anything strange."

"And that would be her point," Dawn chastised playfully.

"I don't get it?"

Both May and Dawn sweatdropped, sharing a deadpan look.

"What I mean Ash," May started gently, going slow to be sure he caught on. "Is that Kaiden doesn't seem to notice when someone is interested in him."

Ash knit his brow together as his mind put the pieces together, "Ally likes Kaiden?"

"And the winner is, Ash!" Dawn clapped in a round of applause, earning a glare from him.

"How does that make him like me?" He defended himself.

"Because all of your female traveling companions liked you at one point you dolt," Dawn exclaimed. "Goodness, what's in your coffee? Vodka?"

Ash blushed deeply at the sudden slap of knowledge that he already knew, but decided to pointedly ignore, "Oh, that. What can I say, we Ketchum's are a savvy type."

"And there goes the ego," May sighed with a smile.

"So Ally really likes Kaiden then?" Ash asked, ignoring May's comment and Dawn's agreement. "I'd bet money he likes her too."

"How can you tell?" May asked suspiciously.

Ash grinned smugly, "Because I wasn't as clueless as you two like to believe I was. Well, at least not with Misty. I liked her way back when, I just chose to ignore myself."

Both women seemed honestly surprised by that bit of news, and Dawn said, "Oh my God, that makes so many things make so much more sense!"

"What does?" A different voice asked from the doorway, and the three of them turned to find Misty walking into the kitchen. Followed by Serena, Bonnie, and Clemont.

"Oh, nothing important Misty," Ash was quick to say before Dawn could answer for him. The bluenette shot him a challenging smile, but didn't say anything about it.

Instead, Dawn said, "Bonnie! Clemont! It's been so long!"

"I know!" Bonnie practically shouted, shoving past her brother and stealing the seat by Dawn at the table. "How have you been?"

The two of them were quickly lost in rapid fire conversation, leaving the rest of the group to speak amongst themselves.

"Hey Clemont," Ash greeted warmly as the lemon blonde walked over to the table. "How was the flight?"

"Long, and tiring," he said as he took the seat across from Ash. "Bonnie was a handful."

"Don't be a wimp," Bonnie butted in quickly, and was gone just as fast, back into her conversation with Dawn.

Misty sat in the seat beside May, with Serena taking the seat beside her, and asked, "Ash, would you get me a cup?"

She pointed to the coffee in his hands, and he groaned like it would be the hardest thing he'd done all day, "I suppose so."

"And start the ham?" Misty added as he stood up, which made him scoff. "You're the best!"

* * *

"Good thing we got started when we did," Kaiden said victoriously. "Mom would've killed us."

"I think you would be the only one in danger," Ally pointed out with a laugh.

"What about Del?"

"I'm obviously the favorite," the black haired girl chimed in as she pulled a box out of the red sedan. "Mom wouldn't kill her favorite."

She dropped the heavy box into Kaiden's waiting arms, and he staggered in place. Crunching the snow beneath his feet.

"I bet she'd kill you if she knew what you were planning to do tonight," he argued back slyly, making her narrow her eyes at him dangerously. He stared right back, challenging her to say anything else.

Ally looked between the two siblings, "Planning on what?"

"Nothing," they said together, breaking their staring contest and looking to the brunette. Except Del continued, "Come on Ally, you can help me put up the figurines."

She gripped the young woman by the arm and hauled her to the other side of the yard. Kaiden watched them go, seeing Ally send him a wink as she was drug through the snow. His face turned hot, but for the life of him he couldn't figure out why. There was snow outside, so it was supposed to be cold, not hot.

Together they worked to decorate the yard, removing the decorations they had bought earlier from their mothers sedan. Taking care not to bump into Serena's little blue car parked beside it. The snow crunched beneath their feet, leaving obvious trails of where each of them had been. Around the back of the house, a spot clearly marked where Kaiden had to take a bathroom break.

They talked, laughed, and swapped stories of their current adventures. Ally told Del of the Dratini she had just recently captured, and Kaiden tried to avoid the part about it wrapping around his head, with no such luck. Del proceeded to make fun of him for that embarrassing tidbit of information.

"I said it's not funny!" Kaiden protested, his irritation reaching a peak. Without thinking, he scooped up a wad of snow into his gloved hand and let it fly at his sister. Squarely hitting her directly in the face. The gravity of his mistake sunk in almost immediately, and he could feel the weight drop into his gut. Ally waited with wide eyes and bated breath as Del slowly reached up and wiped away the snow peppering her nose and cheeks.

"You did not just do that..." was her response. A low growl from the back of her throat that made Kaiden almost squeak out loud.

"I'm, I'm sorry sis-" Poof! He stumbled back as a snowball exploded against his forehead, blocking his view with thousands of snow particles that fluttered to the ground. He blinked away the water in his eyes from the snow, and found his sister glaring at him.

Poof! Another snowball struck Del from her side, bursting against her black beanie that shielded her ears from the cold. Bewildered about where the snowball had come from, her head snapped to her right, only finding Ally a few feet away. Holding another one and grinning challengingly.

"Oh your on," Del proclaimed, and then, the war started. Ally used her gymnastics training from her contests and twirled away from the snowball rocket Del launched straight for her. Realizing her mistake too late, she had taken her eyes of Kaiden, and received a shot directly to her torso.

"Hey!" She squeaked, tossing her second one his way. Which he dodged with a laugh, and ran for the edge of the house. A snowball exploded into oblivion on the wooden frame, an inch from his head as he rounded the corner.

"You can't hide forever!" Ally shouted after him. The three of them played, completely forgetting about the yard decorations that needed to be set up. Alliances were made and broken just as quickly as they sprung. Kaiden formed a truce with his sister and the two of them teamed up against Ally, only for Kaiden to pelt his sister in the back with multiple shots before she could turn around. Nearly an hour passed, and Kaiden was back against the front door, hands in the air in surrender while both Ally and Del approached him up the walkway, large snowballs in hand.

"I give! I give!" He pleaded as the fiery glint in both women's eyes reached a peak.

"No mercy!" Del shouted, and the two girls launched their snowballs. Kaiden squeaked and ducked just in time to avoid the shots, and believed he was in he clear, until...

"What the Hell?!" His mothers voice penetrated his ears, and he immediately straightened up, wide eyed with fear. Both Ally and Del were frozen in place, horror etched across their faces. Slowly, Kaiden turned around and was greeted with his mother standing in the now open doorway. Snow splattered across her chest and cheek, a few particles dripping from her now wet bangs. His mind raced with every excuse, every reasoning he could give her to explain their actions, but he kept coming up short. Misty's eyes sparkled furiously, and it was making his nerves itch to run and never look back.

"Mom, I-" he started to say, but was cut off by a muffled ' _oomph_ ' as faster than he could blink, Misty had scooped up a large chunk of snow and pelted her son in the face. He stumbled back, and for a moment was utterly confused. Then he cracked into a wide toothy grin, and said, "Behind you."

Misty blinked and cocked her head back to see, only her reaction was too late. Ash, who somehow had acquired a handful of snow, came up behind her and wrapped his arm around her torso. Swiftly the hand holding the wad of snow shoved its way up the backside of her hoodie, pressing the frozen water against her bare skin. She squealed in shock and struggled to get free, squirming and wiggling like a wild Mankey. As Kaiden laughed, he suddenly felt fresh snow press against his own backside, and he lurched forward with a loud yell. Ally's laughter cued him in on who had done it, and he turned to face her. She was red faced, and slowly taking a few steps back as Kaiden advanced, scooping snow as he went.

Soon the yard was once again full of flying snowballs, by both teenagers and adults. The people still in the house had come out to join, and it was a full fledged war. With no allegiances to anyone. Bonnie knocked Seren'a beanie off her head from a well aimed shot, Dawn assisted Misty in getting Ash back, and then proceeded to turn on the red head and pelt her with a barrage of snow. Clemont fell under fire from the three teenagers and collapsed onto the ground, vanishing beneath a blanket of white with only his lemon hair to be seen. Ash, busy laughing at Clemont as he popped up from the snow, received a snowball to the face, courtesy of Serena.

On the war raged, and didn't seem to have an end in sight, until a loud cocky voice said, "Well it seems the real party already started."

Everyone froze in place, arms reared back and ready to throw, turning to face the newcomer, or newcomers. Gary stood at the wooden gate, a foil covered plate in one hand and a large parcel in the other. Logan and Sam were at his side, each holding another plate and parcel respectively. They blinked curiously at the scene, and then together, angrily shouted, "You're having a snowball fight without us?!"


	2. Chapter 2

Gary sat the three foil wrapped dishes onto the pearlescent countertop, having placed the parcels beneath the tree in the living room. When Sam and Logan wanted to join in on the snowball fun, Gary hauled the three plates of food and the gifts inside by his self, with only a slight bit of difficulty. He faced the stove, checking the timer and then pulling open the door to get a closer look at he ham. It was almost done, and he was sure Misty and Ash would have let it burn while they goofed around outside. That would only be the...fourth? Yea, fourth Christmas in a row. He rolled his eyes to himself and closed the oven door. Resetting the digital timer to a more appropriate time of ham completion, then he walked over to their fridge and pulled open the door.

A few moments later he was pouring himself a glass of whiskey he found hiding in the cabinet above the fridge. He coughed once as the alcohol tickled the back of his throat, and he allowed himself to be impressed. It took some strong stuff to make him gag. The second sip wasn't near as bad, and he walked out of the kitchen back into the living room. Outside he could hear the sounds of everyone laughing and screaming, seeing their shadows race by the windows as they dodged snowballs being hurled at them. He sat his drink on the coffee table and plopped onto the Ketchum's couch, reaching for the remote and switching on the TV.

He was immediately greeted with Lance's dark eyes, sharp stare, and his flaming red hair, now with the sides turning gray. Leave it to Ash to have his Television on the Pokémon League Channel, but seeing as anything else would be endless hours of Christmas shows, Gary let it slide. He picked up his drink and took another sip as Lance spoke.

"The League would like to wish everyone a happy Holiday, and to be safe during the next few weeks. We know there will be lots of traveling, and we ask that you assist your neighbor or any Pokémon Trainers as they make their way back home for the Holidays. If anyone has any Trainer related inquires, our service desk will be operational until noon on Christmas Eve, and will reopen following Christmas Day. Keep in mind that the League itself will be closed all month, as will Gyms, so that our hard working Trainers can enjoy time with their families. We thank you all for the wonderful year, and the Champion is looking forward to the Indigo Conference come Spring. Thank you again, and enjoy your holiday."

The camera cut away from Lance, back to a reporter standing outside on the Main Street through the town of Indigo. Where a large Christmas theme parade was currently taking place. Gary, however, didn't hear anything about it as his attention was suddenly drawn to the Christmas tree by the fireplace. A rustling was coming from it, but it ceased the moment he looked that direction. He scanned the area carefully, but saw nothing out of place, so he stood up.

Any thoughts of investigating the sound was suddenly pushed out of his mind as the front door swung open and Brock waltzed in, bringing a wave of cold air and carrying two large wrapped trays. When he spotted Gary, he was quick to ask, "Mind helping me out? I've got nearly a dozen more in the truck."

"Yea, sure thing," Gary nodded, heading for the coat rack and snatching his wool overcoat.

* * *

"Ok, your speech is over, can we go now Dad?!" An excited eight year old bounced on the balls of her feet. She had flaming red hair that trailed down her back like flames roaring into battle, with a lone blue streak that started near her right temple and wove its way backwards down her long locks. A shining smile and dark blue eyes glistened up at the man she called father.

"Not yet Lily," he told her, feeling his heart shatter inside at her disappointed face. "I have a few more things to take care of." Lance patted her head reassuringly, "But soon, ok?"

"Okay," she mumbled dejectedly, falling to the flats of her feet. Lance straightened up, running a hand through his spiky red hair. He led the way as they walked out of the conference room of the Plateau, taking a backstage door to avoid any more press.

"So what are you getting me for Christmas?" Lily suddenly asked, her bouncy personality not one to to stay down.

Lance let the door swing closed and looked down at her as they headed up the hall, "It would ruin the surprise if I told you."

"Mom told me what she got," the young girl protested, puffing her cheeks.

Her father raised a brow, "Did she now? Why don't I believe you?"

"Cuz you just wanna see me suffer until Christmas Day."

"Well I can't argue with that," he tussled her hair and she grunted. "That's part of the fun-"

"Lance," a woman's voice called after them, making the pair stop and turn around. A well dressed woman with a sharp face ran up to them, wearing gold rimmed glasses. She had dark red hair, and icy blue eyes.

"What is it Lorelei?" Lance asked, crossing his arms. Lily folded hers as well, though her facial expression was a far different caliber than her fathers. While his was business like and professional, hers was one of a deep anger, a large scowl.

Lorelei walked right up to Lance, leaning close and whispering into his ear so Lily couldn't hear. This only further agitated the young girl, who started tapping her foot impatiently. When the Ice Elite pulled away, Lance sighed, "Are you sure?"

"Positive," she nodded. "Vance doesn't make mistakes, he says it was them."

"Alright," Lance closed his eyes and rubbed his temple with his thumb and index finger. "I'll see to it swiftly. Just give me a moment."

Lorelei nodded, and swooped in to give the man a quick peck on the cheek, which didn't go unnoticed by Lily. Who, very loudly, groaned in disgust and scowled even harder at the Ice Elite. Lorelei cast her a quick, hurt look, but didn't make a comment. Instead she said to Lance, "You did good on stage. Gave the League a proper Holiday sendoff."

"It should've been Ash out there," Lance remarked, though it was in a normal tone. "But I can understand him wanting to be with family and not here."

"I'll make sure nothing else comes up after you're done with...that task," Lorelei told him, hesitating to not reveal critical League info to Lily.

"Can you go now?" The little red head outburst angrily, glaring at Lorelei.

Once again, the Elite looked hurt, but she sighed dejectedly and nodded. She opened her mouth to say something to Lily, but apparently decided against it as she gave Lance one last look before walking away. Shoulders in a slump.

Lance, waited until Lorelei rounded the corner back to the conference room, and gripped his daughters shoulder angrily. He got down to her height and glared angrily at her, "You really need to stop with that attitude toward Lorelei. I won't tolerate it any longer."

"But she-"

"Don't interrupt me," Lance cut her off, but the flash of anger behind his dark eyes did a better job of silencing his daughter. She closed her mouth and stood rigidly still, Lance's intimidating demeanor having a paralysis effect on the little girl. "It wasn't her fault," he continued. "It wasn't your mothers, or anyone else's...but mine. If you want to be angry with anyone, then be angry with me. But _do not_ take your anger out on Lorelei again, do I make myself clear?"

Lily nodded, turning her eyes to the floor.

"She just wants to be your friend," he added in a much softer tone. "So please give it a try?"

His daughter looked back up into his eyes to see the anger gone, replaced by a deep sadness. She felt her eyes begin to water, and her heart ache. She wanted to tell her father that she would give it her best, but that was something she could not do.

"I won't be mean to her anymore," Lily whispered, fighting herself not to cry. "But I won't be her friend. I don't want too."

Her words were strong, despite the shakiness behind them, and Lance saw the fire in her eyes. The same fire both he and her mother had. Lily's mind would not be swayed. Lance sighed and stood back up, letting his hand slide from his daughters shoulder, "I-"

"Lance," came another voice to interrupt, this time a man's. Both father and daughter instantly buried their emotions, and to anyone who didn't know better, nothing would have been wrong. Lance's hard stare returned as he faced the newcomer, a dark brown haired man, with graying sideburns, short shaven stubble around his jawline, and bright green eyes.

"Master Cameron," Lance nodded. "Headed back to Pallet?"

"Very soon," he said as he came to a halt before the two. "May's been texting me pretty much nonstop. Something about missing a snowball fight."

"They had a snowball fight without me?!" Lily shouted, clearly upset. "Just wait until I get my hands on Logan-"

"Sounds like you dodged a bullet to me," Lance said, continuing his conversation with Cameron while Lily ranted on beside them about the various harm she was going to inflict on Logan and Sam when she got to Pallet. "Or a snowball."

"Lance making a joke?" Cameron asked amused. "It must be what Holiday spirit you can feel."

"If only a little," was the League Ambassador's reply. "Hey..." He cast a glance down to his daughter, who was still on a tirade about her friends. "Would you take Lily with you? Something with Crimson has come up, and I need to look into it."

"Wait, what?" Lily stopped her tantrum and looked up to her father. "You mean you're not coming?"

"I'll be honest Lil," he began carefully. "I didn't plan on staying anyway."

"Why?!" She practically shouted, her voice cracking with emotion.

"Because your mother and I would only cause a scene and I'm not doing that to the Ketchum's at their house," Lance stated harshly, intent on putting an end to the begging before it began. The trick worked.

"Whatever," Lily huffed, turning her back to her father. "Go spend your time with Lorelei then."

"I won't be with her, I'll-" Lance stopped himself. Getting into an argument with an eight year old was immature, and childish. Something far beneath a man of his stature. Still, it was amusing how his daughter could poke just the right button. Kind of like her mother...

"I can take her, no problem," Cameron said softly, hoping to break the uneasy tension that settled in with the moment of silence. "I'm headed out soon, have anything you need to grab?" He addressed Lily, giving her a warm smile. She shook her head, only tightening the fold in her arms.

"Then I'll be going," Lance said stiffly. "The sooner I can get this job done, the better. I'll see you soon Lily." He patted her shoulder, knowing full well she wouldn't turn around to hug him in her frustrated state. Gently he brushed her fiery hair, and said, "Have a good time, I love you."

And with a curt nod to Cameron, he was walking away with his cloak flowing behind him. A lone blue eye watched him go, and when he was around the corner out of sight, Lily sighed in despair. Her arms uncrossing and her shoulders slumping. Hoping to help ease the young girl's mind, Cameron said, "Come on. I'm sure Sam and Logan are ready to see you."

* * *

The Ketchum kitchen smelled delicious! Almost to the breaking point of causing Ash to physically drool. He stood in the doorway, just after winning-according to only him-the snowball fight, and he could smell every scent wafting from the various dishes Brock was unwrapping along the countertop. Ally, May, and Kaiden were right behind him, entranced in the same intoxicating aromas permeating their noses. Brock pointed to a dish on the far left and told Gary, who was setting down the last two aluminum wrapped plates, to put it in the refrigerator for later.

"Which one of Brock's famous deserts did we get this year?" The researcher asked, grabbing what he felt was a rather large, aluminum wrapped bowl.

"Banana pudding," the older man replied with a flash of a glance to the door, knowing full well who was about to come crashing in at the mention of the desert.

And just as expected, Ash was shoved against the door frame as May hurtled past him, "Did I just hear that right?!"

"Hey!" Ash shouted and vanished into the kitchen, "Save some for me!"

"And us!" Both Kaiden and Ally yelled after them, running through the doorway.

From the living room, the occupants could hear Brock's voice battling them back. Sternly explaining the desert was for _after_ dinner. Misty closed her eyes in embarrassment and sat back into the tan armchair, sighing, "I'm so glad your father is the one in charge of most the food. Otherwise Ash and May would eat it all."

The two people she spoke to say opposite her on the tan leather couch, beside Serena. They were identical in their sharp facial structures and dark eyes. Both were about 18, and while one was a boy and the other a girl, it was their hair that really set them apart. The girl had long, dark hair, the same color as Brock's. The boy, had short spiky hair, that was a vivid, bright pink. Akin to his deceased mother's.

"Dad insisted he needed to be here in time to keep an eye on them," Brent laughed, scratching the back of his pink head.

"He says that every year," Darcy pointed out, with the slightest of an eye roll.

While Misty proceeded to tell them a story of a much younger Brock and Ash arguing about how much the latter could eat at breakfast, the other occupants of the room fell into conversations of their own. Clemont, who resided in the second armchair, spoke with Serena. Discussing the latest invention of the lemon blonde's, a fast acting, automatic fire extinguisher.

"For those times over the holidays when someone accidentally catches their oven on fire," he told her when she asked why, making her blush because he'd gotten the idea from her a few years back when she had done that very thing.

Del, and Bonnie were awing over the Christmas tree and it's various decorations, while Dawn meandered in front of the stone cobblestone fireplace. Her eyes were skimmed across the wooden mantelpiece that wrapped around the structure, displaying a wide assortment of pictures. Kaiden, Del, and Logan as babies. Family portraits. Snapped group photos of each Christmas and an occasional few from gatherings.

One was of a younger her and Ash, sitting at a fold up table, clinking the tips of their beer bottles together. It was summertime in the photo, as he was in a white t-shirt and his regular blue jeans, and she was wearing a black tank top and pink skirt. In the background, Lance was standing with Brock by the grill, conversating about only God knew what. Just behind Ash, a blurry splotch of orange hair was entering the frame, and an arm reaching for him. She remembered that night, when Gary ' _proposed_ ' to Serena. A small smile crept onto her lips.

"Dad was so young," Del's voice came from her left, and she felt the young woman's presence beside her. "You too, Aunt Dawn."

"Are you saying I'm old?" She acted overdramatically, placing a hand to her chest and turning her head to see the young raven.

"Only a little bit," Del smirked playfully, her brown eyes twinkling.

Bonnie, who followed Del over from the tree, walked up to the other side of Dawn and began to examine the photos.

"You wanna see young," Dawn seized her chance with an devilish smirk. "Look at this one."

She shoved Del over a step, pointing her to a series of photo's from Ash and Misty's wedding. Del's eye automatically went to the largest one, which presented her much younger parents swaying slowly together on the dance floor. Eyes only for each other. Ash was in a traditional black tux, with his wild hair somewhat tamed down, while Misty was in an extravagant white dress, with frills that trailed down it like waves on the ocean.

"They look so happy," Bonnie sighed dreamily, putting her hands together at her waist.

"I like this one," Dawn motioned to another photo down the line. One of the same dance floor, but it was crowded with all of their group and wedding guests out dancing. In the center of the crowd was Ash and Misty, with Gary and Serena close by. Gary was dressed similarly to Ash, while Serena's strapless dress was a light navy blue, with a frilly hem around the the bottom. Dawn moved her finger a few inches to their right, and stopped over a younger lemon blonde Bonnie, in a slim black dress. Her dance partner, a young man of the same age, wore a nice brown dress shirt, and had dark blue hair with a sharp pair of glasses.

Bonnie immediately turned a bright red, and tried to draw attention to a different photo, "Look at Dawn in this one-"

"Is that Uncle Max?" Del asked curiously, unable to fully see the man's face as he was half turned to the camera.

"Indeed it is," Dawn said before Bonnie could reply.

"Wow," Del exclaimed. "So many times I've seen this photo, but I didn't realize just how young you and him were Bonnie."

"We were 16," Bonnie told her, turning an even brighter red.

This revelation made Del's eyes practically pop from her skull, "You were younger than me when this was taken?!"

Dawn sweatdropped, of course the embarrassment she was putting Bonnie under was flying right over Del's head.

"It was-" the lemon blonde began to say, but the front door swung open, blasting in a wave of cold that captured the entire rooms attention. Logan and Sam, who had remained outside to continue their own snowball fight, marched in followed by two others. One was a teenager of about seventeen, smart features, dark brown hair, bright green eyes, and stylish, rectangular glasses. The other was a man of about thirty, who looked similar to the teen, except he had dark blue hair, dark eyes, and horn rimmed glasses.

"Look who we found," Logan proclaimed loudly to the room, pulling off his beanie and revealing a static frayed head of orange hair.

"Simon, Max," Misty greeted warmly. "I was beginning to think you weren't going to make it."

"We had a hold up at the airport," Max told them as he shut the door and locked the cold back outside.

"I knew we'd still beat dad here though," Simon grinned. "We didn't beat Ally and Mom did we?"

"There in the kitchen," Misty told him. "Being chased away from the food by Brock I'm sure."

While Simon headed for the kitchen, and Max removed his coat so he could join the others around the coffee table, Del had noticed Bonnie was frozen in place.

"Are you ok?" She asked worriedly, putting a hand on the blonde's shoulder.

Once again, before Bonnie could reply for herself, Dawn answered quickly, "Her crush just sat on the couch. So I'd bet she's nervous!"

"Dawn!" Bonnie hissed, growing wide eyed and pink faced. The bluenette had not been quiet. However, no one around the coffee table had seemed to hear, and the lemon blonde relaxed with a long sigh.

Del, who was blown away by the news of Bonnie having a crush, recuperated from her initial shock, and said, "Don't worry Bon! Maybe this will be the year for you!"

Once again, Bonnie was cut off from speaking as a wave of cold air blew in from the front door opening. A young girl with fire like red hair came barging in, tracking a line of snow with her. She bolted right up to Sam and Logan, who were sitting between the two armchairs, and had been listening to the older people talk.

"How dare you have a snowball fight without me!" Lily declared loudly, and whacked the two boys upside the head, causing both of them to yelp in surprise.

"We didn't start-" Logan began to defend themselves, but Lily cut him off with an overwhelming hug that squeezed the breath out of him. Making his sentence turn into a wheeze that sounded more like a squeak toy being stepped on.

Knowing he was next, Sam tried to run, but couldn't rise to his feet in time. Lily vaulted off of Logan and wrapped around his knees, bringing the young Oak back to the floor.

"I missed you both so much!" She wailed happily, clutching to Sam while he desperately tried to wiggle free.

"A little help Logan!"

"I think you're goo-AGH!"

Lily sat up and wrapped an arm around Logan's neck, pulling him to her side. Doing the same to Sam on her opposite shoulder. The Ketchum boy cast a glance over to the Christmas tree, but he caught Sam's eye, who shook his head.

Amused and giggling at the sight of her son under such duress, Misty saw another figure enter the house from the corner of her eye and turned to face them. Cameron closed the door, shutting the cold out once more, and greeted the room with a smile, "And that's the sign the Holidays have officially begun."

"Cameron," Misty greeted happily. "I take it Lance won't be joining us?"

Unnoticed by everyone, Dawn's heart skipped a beat as she fully realized that her daughter had arrived with Cameron, which meant...

"He had a last minute Crimson issue to deal with," the Elite told the group as he removed his leather coat. "I offered to bring Lily with me."

Whatever was said next, Dawn didn't hear it. Her ears exploded with an angry buzzing at the news of Lance, and she trembled with rage. So Crimson was more important than spending Christmas with their daughter?! She had been panning on putting the past behind them for tonight, toss it all out of her mind, just so Lily could spend this party with her family and friends. So much for family...

"Dawn?" Bonnie asked worriedly. "You're bleeding."

That pulled the bluenette from her inner rage and she turned to see Bonnie pointing down. Sure enough, she felt the trickle of warm blood begin to trail down the side of her palm. Glancing down, she could see the skin on her palm pulled back from where she had apparently dug her nails in deep.

"Oh," was all she could say.

"Come on," the lemon blonde whispered gently. "Let's go get that cleaned up."

And without giving Dawn a choice, Bonnie placed a palm between her shoulder blades and began to push her across the room. The bluenette allowed herself to be guided by her friend, and herd Misty speaking to Cameron, "May and your children are in the kitchen-"

They were almost past the couch, when Ash suddenly entered the living room, putting a PokeGear into his pocket. "Iris and Cilan just called," he announced to gain the focus of the room. "Their plane will be an hour behind schedule due to a snowstorm farther south. They said to go ahead and eat without them, and Brock says dinner is ready-"

He paused, noticing Bonnie leading Dawn towards the hall. He could see a small trail of blood along her hand, "Dawn, are you ok? Your bleeding."

She hissed inwardly as she felt each pair of eyes on her back. Of course Ash would notice her being hurt and ask, unfortunately not possessing the small social cue to realize that she didn't want that to be public. Regardless, she faced him and the others, saying with a forced smile, "I'm fine! Just a small accident. We'll be right there!"

It was enough to convince the majority of them, but a few could see through her charade. Especially Lily. The young red head tried to catch her mother's eye, but Dawn skimmed her gaze right on over her daughter and proceeded down the hall and out of sight with Bonnie in tow.

"Well," Misty said, rising from her comfy seat and clapping once. "Shall we eat then?"

* * *

Dinner had gone exceptionally well, and everyone was stuffed to the max, but that certainly didn't stop them from mingling about the house munching on deserts, drinking various types of alcohol, and chatting away. Ash sipped his eggnog much too fast. Gary whipped out a flask and poured something dark into his cup of tea. Serena and Bonnie shared half a Christmas cookie in the shape of a Geodude. Dawn, who's hand was now bandaged up and hardly noticeable, laughed by the flickering fireplace with the three youngest. The night was going wonderfully well.

Ally rummaged over the deserts in the kitchen, half listening to a breeding topic going on between Brock, Simon, and Clemont. She brushed a strand of her brown hair behind her ear, and locked her eyes onto the last small portion of banana pudding that was left. A giggle couldn't be helped as she snatched a paper plate and scooped the last of the desert out of the glass bowl. Gleefully she skipped past the conversing men, and left the kitchen, emerging into the living room.

She stopped, looking down to her feet with a curious frown, then down the hall to her right. Something had just brushed against her leg, she was sure of it. Logan, who had just so happened to look towards the kitchen as Ally stepped out, jumped to his feet and bolted across the living room.

"Excuse me Ally," he spoke to her as he rushed by. "Gotta go to the bathroom!"

She blinked curiously. Sam, excused himself from Dawn and Lily, and stood up to chase after his friend. Lily's head tilted in wonder, and Dawn said, "You better go make sure they aren't getting into trouble."

"I probably should," the young girl sighed and stood up to follow. As she passed Ally and went down the hall after her friends, Misty appeared out of one of the bedrooms.

Lowering her wine glass from her lips, she spoke back into the room, "And don't you dare take that off!"

She shuffled by Lily, who disappeared around the corner, and approached Ally with a wink. The young brunette noticed the older woman's cheeks were flushed red, probably from the wine. As Misty walked by, she said, "Just wait for it. You'll thank me later."

And she continued on to go sit by her husband on the couch. Ally, confused by the odd string of events that just took place, blinked and raised a spoonful of pudding to her mouth. Then, the door to the room Misty had just came from pushed open further, and Kaiden stepped out into the hall. He headed for the living room, and Ally began to giggle as he approached her.

"Oh, my, goodness," she defined each word clearly, fighting the very amused grin spreading across her face. "Why is that on your head?"

Kaiden glowered and folded his arms, sending a scowl upwards to his bangs. Strapped to his raven black hair, was a short stick, proudly displaying a mistletoe hanging just above his forehead.

"Mom thought it would be cute," he groaned, catching Ally's green eyes and daring her to laugh with another glare. Her lips trembled as she fought to keep it in, and she succeeded by shoving a rather large bite of pudding into her mouth.

And to Kaiden's horror, his sisters voice came echoing from the other side of the room, "WOO! Don't you just look so adorable, Kaiden!"

"Shut it woman!" He yelled back, turning a bright red and storming past Ally into the kitchen. May's eyes followed her daughter as she raced into the kitchen after the fuming young Ketchum. She smiled knowingly and shared a quick look with Dawn.

In the kitchen, Brock exploded into laughter as he watched Kaiden enter and grapple with the mistletoe. "I'm going to assume that was Misty's idea?"

"Oh you know my mom so well," Kaiden mocked, ripping the mistletoe free from his head and throwing it at his uncle. Brock dodged the projectile, causing it to hit Clemont. The lemon blonde fumbled with it for a moment, but caught it between his palms. A curious look began to form on his face as he held it up to see better.

Kaiden marched over to the countertop and snatched up several Pokemon shaped cookies, taking a harsh bite out of a Diglett's head, and chewing just as violently. Ally sidled up behind him, looking at the back of his head wonderingly, "Did…did that really bother you that much?"

The young Ketchum turned to face her, ready to shout his reasonings for being angry, but he stopped. Her expression was concerned, eyes filled with a soft worry that ceased the anger in his chest. Sensing a moment, Brock elbowed Clemont and motioned with his head to Simon, "Let's see what the others are up to."

Clemont acknowledged the idea, and followed Brock to the door. Simon however, waited a moment longer, giving his sister a curious stare that she didn't notice. At first he was going to tease her, because that was his job after all, but then he saw the way her concern diffused Kaiden's anger. Deciding this was something he probably shouldn't interfere in, he quickly followed the two older men out of the kitchen.

"I'm sorry I laughed," Ally started when Kaiden didn't reply to her. "It was just…"

She turned a soft shade of pink, turning her eyes down to the pudding she was still holding.

"It wasn't you," he said, causing her to look back up and see that his face was hidden behind his bangs. "I only got angry…because…well…" He looked back up, his words hitching on his tongue as his stare caught her bright green eyes. "I…was worried that…you know…you…just might…"

His voice fell softer and softer with each word he spoke, almost to the point of being unintelligible, and Ally's eyes grew wider with each passing one. Along with the pink hue on her cheeks turning brighter. They stared at each other, both teenagers hearts picking up in rhythm and pounding against their chest. He noticed her lips began to part, only a fraction by the corner of her mouth, and then he was looking at her green eyes once more. They flicked down to his lips, which were pressed tight from him clenching his jaw, then back to his aquamarine orbs.

His mind was mush, every thought he tried to form quickly became a jumbled mess that melted into the thousands of other thoughts racing through his head. She was pretty…really pretty! How had he never noticed that before? The way her eyes seemed to shine like a star, the way her nose curved up into the smallest of a peak at the tip, her round cheeks and sharp jawline…wait…why were her eyes closing?! Why was she getting closer?! Was she falling asleep? Something buzzed, and snapped. Oh wait, that was just his brain…

"IRIS! CILAN!"

The collective happy cheers roared from the living room, shattering the dreamlike state Ally had somehow found herself in, and she startled with a loud yelp. Her eyes flew open and she realized how close to Kaiden she had come, with only an inch or two separating their lips. On base reaction she tried to pull back, only losing her balance and slipping, toppling backwards. Her arms flailed wildly as she tried to catch herself, and one hand gripped Kaiden's shoulder while the other smashed her plate of pudding directly into his face.

Completely caught off guard by the sudden taste and smell of banana, as well as being blinded, Kaiden lost his own footing and fell forward from her sudden weight. The two collapsed to the kitchen floor, and he dropped his cookies as he mentally prepared to feel the tiled floor, but instead landed on something soft. A girlish squeak came from the thing he landed on, and it then it stiffened. He groaned and pushed himself up, letting the plate fall from his face. Banana pudding dripped from his cheeks as he suddenly realized he was lying on Ally as he saw her petrified expression below him.

"GWAAAAHHHH!" He screamed, flinging himself backwards and crashing his back into the lower cabinets under the counter. Ally's entire body turned beat red, practically glowing from the radiating embarrassment coursing through her veins. Not giving Kaiden a look, she rocket to her feet and bolted out of the room, unable to handle the surge of feelings currently taking control of her mind. He watched her go, horrified, petrified, embarrassed, and tasting banana.

Out in the living room, May was chatting with Del, Brent, and Darcy, happily greeting Iris and Cilan as they closed the door behind them. From the corner of her eye, she saw a flash of brown and red dash from the kitchen and vanish down the hall. Frowning, she rose to her feet and followed her daughter.

* * *

"I'm telling you, I saw it go this way!" Logan protested to Sam, hitting his knees and peering under the king size bed of his parents.

"Well I didn't see it," the young Oak shot back, opening a drawer on the nightstand and closing it once more.

"Do you have any better idea where to look?" Logan stood back up, glaring at his friend.

Not giving a reply, Sam grunted and walked over to the closet.

"That's what I thought. Now we need to hurry up and find it before-"

"Hurry and find what?" Lily's voice cut him off, and he screeched like an Aerodactyl as he spun and saw her standing in the doorway.

"Find-find-find-find-"

"Oh for the love of-" Sam stopped the stuttering coming from the orange haired boy by smacking him upside the head. "We're looking for a Nidoran."

Logan's head snapped ninety degrees as he looked aghast at his friend, "Sam!"

"A Nidoran?" Lily questioned curiously, stepping fully into Ash and Misty's bedroom. The room coloring matched that of the living room, except Logan's mother had decorated the ceiling with tiny droplets of water. Painted in a light blue color. Two night stands sat on either side of the bed, and a full sized dresser on the other side of the room, with a large mirror attached to its back. "Why would there be a Nidoran in here?"

"Because Logan stole it from my Dad's lab," Sam told her nonchalantly, returning to the closet and pulling it open to check inside.

"Sam!"

"You stole a Nidoran?" Lily asked the youngest Ketchum, appalled by the information, and frowning at him displeasingly.

"I-I-I-" he stammered, cowering under her glare as she placed her hands at her hips, awaiting an answer. "I wanted to show it to you..."

"It's all he would talk about," Sam added. "It was rather annoying actually."

"I thought you'd like to see it, and I knew you wouldn't get to if it stayed at the lab, and-GAH!"

He choked under the pressure of Lily's arms as she lunged forward and wrapped him into a tight hug, "Oh Logan! That's so sweet! You're a true friend!"

"He'll be a dead friend if my Dad happens to find it first," Sam commented, shutting the closet door when he didn't find anything.

"Well it doesn't seem to be in here," Lily noted, sending a sweeping glance around the room just to be sure. "So we better get started searching the whole house!"

* * *

"I was beginning to think we weren't going to make it!" Iris cried overdramatically as she collapsed onto the armrest of the chair Dawn currently occupied. "That damn pilot was so paranoid about every little thing."

"He wasn't that bad," Cilan tried to defend, but the purple haired Unovan glowered at him.

"He wanted to stall us another hour just because of the turbulence coming into Viridian," she pointed out with a harsh tone.

"Well, there was that," the green haired man conceded, taking a seat on the couch beside Gary and Serena.

"We're all just glad you could make it," Misty said. "It wouldn't have been the same without you guys."

"Cheers to that," Ash raised his eggnog and took a large swig. Del, sitting cross legged beside the stone fireplace with Darcy and Brent, watched her father start up a conversation with Cilan. Her brown eyes immediately flicked over to her mother, a spark of excitement radiating in them.

Darcy noticed, and felt the call of adventure, "I know that look!"

"What look?" Del asked, not taking her stare away from Misty, who was chatting idly with Dawn and Serena. Brent heard the girls, and leaned over to listen better.

"Your look," Darcy explained. "You get it every time your about to do something...reckless."

"When have I ever done anything reckless?" Del questioned seriously, this time turning to face her friend.

"When you jumped off that bridge to save a Weedle," Brent immediately replied. "With nothing to break or slow your fall except the river below."

"Or when you tried to stop that guy from hurting his Hitmonchan," Darcy added. "You jumped in the way and got a black eye."

"Those were reckless?"

"Yes," the twins answered together.

"Anyway," she waved her hand, and turned her gaze back upon her mother, who was now in a deep topic with the other two women. "The time is perfect for me to be... _reckless_." She said the last word with sarcasm, and rose to her feet, "Come on."

The twins stood up after her, exchanging a curious glance as to what their friend could be up to. Without drawing attention to themselves, Del led them across the living room and into the kitchen. Where she found Kaiden, who was still sitting against the counter with pudding smeared across his face.

"Whoa, what happened to you?" She asked seriously, causing the twins to peer around her and see the sight.

He blinked, looking at them like it was the first time he'd ever seen other people, "I'm...I'm not sure."

"What do you mean you're not sure?" Del immediately chastised, putting a hand on her hip. "You had to have seen who smashed pudding on your face."

He reach up and drug his finger through it, blinking at it slowly as he examined the banana flavored stuff. "That was Ally."

"What'd you do to piss her off enough to smash pudding into your face?" Brent asked, suppressing his laugh.

Kaiden blinked again and dropped his hand to the floor, "I...don't know..."

He sounded distant, and confused. His expression was blank, and if Del didn't know better, she could swear his mind had vacated his skull.

"Anyway," Del said slowly. "We're on a time constraint here, we need to hurry."

"What exactly are we doing?" Darcy asked, following her friend as she led them to the fridge. The raven pulled open the door and bent down to peer inside. After a moment of searching, and an ' _aha_ ', Del reemerged holding a carton of eggnog.

When her two friends didn't seem to catch on, she gave a frustrated sigh and said, "This is Dad's spiked eggnog. We're trying some this year."

The twin's eyes grew to the size of saucer's and their jaws fell open. Darcy stammered, "W-W-What?! We can't do that! We'll get into trouble."

"Not if anyone doesn't know," Del countered, pulling open the carton and giving it a sniff. "Besides, weren't you talking about doing this last year?"

"I was just talking..." the female twin mumbled, poking her two index fingers together nervously.

"I'm in," Brent grinned, getting over his initial shock. Del fist bumped him, and held out the carton for Darcy to be the first one to try.

"Oh, fine," she said after glaring at it, Del, and Brent, then snatched it from her friend. "This better be worth it." Taking a deep breath, the other two watched her as she placed the carton to her lips and tilted her head back. Del waited with bated breath as she watched her friend process the taste. Suddenly, Darcy's eyes grew wide with giddiness, and she exclaimed, "Oh my God! It tastes so good!"

Del's hand shot forward, yanking the carton away from Darcy, and securing it for herself just as Brent's fingertips brushed against it. She quickly took a long swig and passed the carton to her pink haired friend while she let the taste hit her tongue, and swallowed. She felt her own eyes widen with the same emotion as Darcy's had, and she laughed out loud, "Wow! That stuff really is good! Kaiden, you want to try?"

She turned to her brother as Brent expressed the same amazement as the girls, but the middle Ketchum child didn't even look up to her. He just blankly replied, "I don't know..."

Suddenly Brent made a strange gag like sound, and he shuffled quickly to hide the carton behind his back. Darcy scooted closer to him to help conceal it, and Del had to turn all the way around to see what was causing them to act this way. Logan, Sam, and Lily walked into the kitchen, barely taking notice of the others in the room.

"Be sure to check everywhere," Logan reminded his two friends.

"What are you three doing?" Del demanded, making her younger brother jump nearly three feet off the floor.

"Oh, hey sis," he tried to play off his scare with a nervous laugh, scratching the back of his orange head. Then he noticed how they were seemingly trying to hide something and said, "I could ask you the same question."

Del glared at him, putting her hands on her hips, "I don't need an answer if you don't."

"Sounds good to me," he shrugged, but didn't move from his spot. His two friends waited behind him, watching the intense stare of now happening between the two siblings.

Finally, Del said, "Let's go guys." And led the way out of the kitchen with Brent and Darcy in tow, still hiding the eggnog behind their backs.

When they were gone, Lily exhaled in relief, "Now that was close, come on let's hurry-"

She paused as she noticed Kaiden sitting against the counter, pudding beginning to dry on his skin. Logan and Sam saw him too, "Hey bro? You alright?"

"I don't know," was Kaiden's response.

"He seems out of it," Sam whispered, studying the older Ketchum carefully. "I don't think he'll even realize we're actually here."

"Then let's hurry up and look before he does," Lily suggested.

Logan wasn't so sure, but they did have to find that Nidoran, so he agreed. They set to work quickly examining the kitchen. Checking under the table, in the fridge, in the cabinets, and once more under the table. High and low, crook and cranny, they searched. Logan opened the pantry, reaching up for the light switch beside the door and flicking it on. The small dark room lit up, revealing rows of bagged and canned goods. He was about to give up and leave when he heard something rip.

"Guys," he whispered loud enough for Sam and Lily to hear him on the other side of the room. "I think it's in here."

"Where?" The both of them said together and rushed to his side, cramming into the tiny doorway with Logan. Something ripped again, and they both stifled a gasp. Logan stepped fully into the pantry, following new sounds of something eating something. It was coming from the back corner, and he swallowed as he crouched down and slowly extended his hand for a large flour sack. With a bit of effort, he heaved it aside and came face to face with Nidoran chewing into a large bag of chips.

It squeaked when he appeared, and in a panic, lurched forward. Logan shouted in alarm and toppled backwards as the weight from the small Pokémon hit his chest. It scampered across his face and both Sam and Lily squealed as it shoved between their legs.

"After it!" Logan told them, and was scrambling to his feet. The three of them burst from the pantry, with Sam diving after the Pokémon and sliding under the table. He smashed into the legs of a chair, halting his grip just inches from grabbing the Nidoran. Lily attempted to head it off, skidding to a stop around the other side, but it vaulted up and onto the seat of one of the chairs, and jumped even higher towards the countertop. Soaring straight over her head, not that she didn't give a mighty leap to try and snatch it from the air. She crashed to her rear hard after she missed, and yelped from the impact.

Nidoran landed on the countertop, skidding into a plate of cookies and pushing them against the wall. It scampered in place for a moment while its feet slid across the pearlescent coating, and Logan lunged to grab it before the Pokemon could gain its footing. His fingertips skimmed across the Nidoran's skin, but it slipped from his grasp and dashed across the rest of the desserts, tossing crumbs, frosting, and pudding into the air. It leaped over a bowl that was larger than it, and landed on the stove, stumbling over the knobs and buttons.

Sam tried to jump up from his place under the table, and cracked the back of his head against the underside of a chair. He groaned, but ignored the pain, grabbing the edge of the table and pulled himself to his full height. Lily pushed herself up as Sam raced past her, and together, the three kids surrounded the stove. Effectively cutting off the little Pokemon. It squeaked in fear, and coward backwards, pressing into the knobs.

"Got you," Sam exclaimed, reaching for Nidoran. It yelped loudly, and suddenly ran forward, hurtling straight for the young Oak. He didn't even have time to react as the Pokemon tackled him in the chest and took him to the floor. A wheeze escaped him as his breath was knocked out of him from the impact, and the Nidoran dug its paws into his shirt and bolted off of him and for the doorway to the living room.

"Are you ok?!" Lily asked, doing her best not to shout.

"It tackled me?!" Sam coughed up in surprise. "Like a full on tackle!"

"Be glad it didn't use Poison Sting," Logan pointed out. "Come on! We can't let the adults find it!"

He ran to the doorway, with Lily right behind him, leaving Sam to get up on his own. Logan stopped before he could leave the kitchen, and slowly peered one eye around the corner. He had a full view of the living room, and he scanned it carefully. His parent's were currently playing a card game with Dawn, Bonnie, Max, and Brock. Cameron, and Simon, were visiting with Gary and Serena by the fire, looking over the pictures on the mantle. Cilan was pouring a glass of wine for himself, and Iris, setting the bottle down onto the coffee table and joining her on the couch and then leaned closer to investigate the card game between the others. Clemont was headed for the hallway, hesitating when he noticed Logan peering around the door frame.

"What's up?" He asked curiously, tilting his head as Lily's face leaned around the back of Logan's.

Logan started, thinking Clemont wouldn't have seen him, "Oh, um, we're-"

"We're going to play a prank on my mother," Lily jumped in with a hushed whisper. "Don't let her know! Please?"

The lemon blonde cast a glance over his shoulder to Dawn, then turned back to the kids with a soft smile, "Your secret is safe with me, I'm actually going to work on a prank of my own. So don't tell on me either, ok?"

"You got it!" The fire red head winked. Clemont nodded to her and made a ' _ssshh_ ' gesture by putting his index finger to his lips, then proceeded down the hall.

"That was quick thinking," Sam noted as he now joined them, having regained his breath.

"Thanks! So what's the plan?" Lily asked, turning to face the back of Logan's head.

He thought for a moment, continuing to watch the room for signs of the Nidoran, but when he couldn't find any, he said, "We'll split up. I'll search the living room, you two check the rest of the house."

"Sounds good," Sam nodded. "Let's go."

As the kids broke, and headed opposite directions out of the kitchen, a still motionless figure continued to lean his back against the counter. Kaiden blinked once, very slowly, and whispered to himself, "I don't know."


	3. Chapter 3

May approached the bathroom door, a sinking feeling her daughter was hiding inside. She tiptoed up to the door, taking care to step softly. The wood was cool against her ear as she leaned against it to listen. Her suspicions turned out to be correct when she heard Ally's voice, muffled on the other side.

"Stupid…just friggin stupid…"

She sounded upset, almost on the verge of crying. Being her mother, May's heart immediately began to ache and yearned to fix whatever problem may have arisen.

"Ally," she called gently, knocking twice with her knuckles. "Are you ok?"

She heard a sniffle, and footsteps approach the door. Quickly May took a step back, and the door swung open to reveal her daughter, cheeks still glowing a bright pink and her eyes tinted the faintest shade of red. There were no tear streaks down her face, which meant she had held in her emotions.

"What happened?" May asked concerned. "Did you and Kaiden get into a fight?"

The thought of herself preferring a fight to the embarrassment she had caused herself, made Ally chuckle once out loud, "No…"

May gave her daughter a reassuring smile, and entered the bathroom, silently closing the door behind her. The walls were painted white, with the same colored tile and decor. The mirror above the sink was trimmed with a decorative gold plate, that had droplets of water carved into it. "So what happened?"

She leaned against the sink top, putting her palms on the surface. Ally looked at her mother for a second, debating about how much she should reveal, and then gave a hefty sigh. Falling to sit on the side of the tub, she explained, "I shoved pudding in Kaiden's face…"

May blinked, "Pudding?…wait, the banana pudding?!" Ally nodded, looking to the floor. May's eye twitched, and the corner of her mouth quivered upward, "You're telling me you wasted the last of that delicious heaven by smashing it on Kaiden's face?!"

" _Priorities_ mom," Ally exclaimed, looking back up and locking eyes with her mother. Her green eyes were filled with such worry, and fear, that May decided to let the waste of her all time favorite desert slide away. For now…

Ally continued, "I shoved pudding on his face, after I….I…I tried to kiss him…"

Say what now? May frowned, unsure if she'd just heard that right, so she clarified, "You…tried to kiss-"

" _Yes_!" Ally stressed, slapping her palms to her face and leaning forward to rest her elbows on her knees. Her brown hair fell around her, tickling the sides of her legs. "I don't know what came over me!"

Suddenly May's expression cracked into a wide grin, and she laughed, "Is this all you're worried about?"

Ally nodded into her hands, making May laugh more. This caused her daughter to clench her fists and snap her head up, "It's _not_ funny mom! I can _never_ be around him again! Who does that kind of thing?! Who tries to _kiss_ someone and then substitutes it with _pudding_?! He's going to _hate_ me!"

May was fighting hard not to be doubled over in laughter by this point, with one of her palms now pressing into her abdomen to help steady herself.

"Mom!"

"I'm sorry," May giggled out, slapping her other palm to her mouth and taking a long breath through her nose, closing her eyes for a moment. When she had regained her composure, she reopened her eyes and looked to her daughter with a smile, "Tell me exactly how it happened, I promise I won't laugh."

Ally glared at her mother, waiting for her to immediately break her word, but May held it in. Despite wanting to burst into another fit of giggles from her daughter's stare. When she was sure her mother wasn't going to laugh, she began to explain, "I don't know how it started. One second I was hoping to make him feel better, and then the next my brain wasn't working right. Everything got warm, and he just looked so…intoxicating! His eyes were sparkling, his lips were slightly open-"

She blushed as she said this, and giggled to herself as she mentally saw the image, but she continued, "And then the next second I was moving forward…or was he moving? _See_! I don't understand my brain!"

"Just continue on," May urged gently, still fighting hard to suppress her laugh.

"Well," Ally began to play with the ends of her hair, twirling it in her finger as she looked to the floor embarrassed. "I suddenly realized what was happening, and I guess I just panicked. I tried to back up, but I slipped, and….my hands tried to grab onto him for support, and I…"

"Shoved the pudding in his face?" May finished, letting slip a single giggle.

"Shut up," Ally whispered, turning from pink to red and hiding her face in her palms once again. May couldn't hold it in any longer, she exploded. Giggling uncontrollably and doubling over. The young brunette pressed her palms tighter against her face, folding her torso completely down onto her legs.

It took a little longer than May thought, not that she tried very hard, but she roped in her laughter and leaned back up to full height. Wiping away the tears that fell freely with her palms, she sniffed once and leaned her head back for a moment. When she was fully back in control, she peered down at her daughter, and joined her on the tub. Sitting close beside her so that their legs were brushing together. She wrapped an arm around the teenager, slowly pulling her upright. Ally let it happen, falling into her mothers shoulder and resting the side of her head there.

"I'm going to tell you something," May began very mother like, but also gentle. "Kaiden isn't going to hate you, and I'd bet money he will still want to travel by your side."

"How do you know?" Her daughter leaned off her shoulder, turning her head to face May.

"Because there's one of two things you can do, one," May held up a finger. "He's a Ketchum, so you can buy him a double cheeseburger and talk about Pokemon, and he'll forget all about the incident."

Ally deadpanned, but May continued, "Or two, you can talk to him about it. I bet he'd have a better response to the situation than you think. Believe me when I say, he's just like his father, and needs a strong woman in his life."

"What do you mean?" Ally blinked, knitting her brow.

May smiled, her eyes twinkling with long distant memories, "Misty traveled with Ash, so did I. Dawn, Iris, and Serena too."

Ally frowned, "So…you're saying Kaiden will travel with lots of girls?"

May laughed, "Possibly, but you were the first. So you hold some weight where no one else will, or ever can. He'll listen to you, and think back to you. He'll take your advice, even if it seems like he's not. I promise you Ally, you've got him wrapped around your finger. Neither of you just know it yet."

"That's," Ally started, a condescending tone in her voice, but her expression quickly shifted to one of deep thought. "Actually really helpful."

"See?!" May scoffed. "Your mother knows stuff!"

"Could dad have told me this?"

"Please," May rolled her eyes, making Ally giggle. "Your father is simple minded like the Ketchum boys. Give him food and talk about Pokemon, and he's head over heels."

"No wonder him and Ash get along so well," Ally smiled.

"So what are you going to do?"

The young brunette thought for a moment while May patiently waited, then Ally said, "I guess I'll talk to Kaiden…that seems like the thing I need to do."

"That's my girl," May squeezed her shoulder, and then hopped up. "Now come on, let's get back out there. We're missing all the fun!"

"Hey Mom," Ally began, rubbing her hands together nervously. "Could we not tell Aunt Dawn about any of this?"

May let out a short laugh, "It will be our little secret."

* * *

"How does she do that?" Dawn cried, tossing her cards onto the table. "Misty has won every single game!"

"I think she's cheating," Ash poked fun at his wife, literally poking her in the side. She squirmed from the sensation and shifted on the couch to smack her husband upside the head.

"I am not!" She defended.

"Are too!" He shot back, rubbing his head.

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am-"

"Alright, cut it out," Brock interjected, grabbing the deck of cards and shuffling them. "Let's not start that up."

"You two act younger than your own children," Max pointed out, and received a thump on top of his head from Misty, making Bonnie giggle.

"Speaking of the kids," Misty wondered aloud, casting a sweeping glance around the room as Max rubbed his head. "Where are they?"

"I'm sure they're just off talking about things they don't want us to hear," Ash tossed her way. "Nothing to worry about."

May and Ally entered the room, looking perfectly chipper, and made their way over to the coffee table with the others. Cilan scooted over on the sofa closer to Iris, making room for them to sit.

"I suppose you're right," Misty sighed. "The older they get, the less it seems they want to be around."

"Want to tell that to Simon?" May jumped in the conversation. "I can't get him to leave the house."

"I heard that," he hollered from the other side of the room.

"You guys want in?" Brock motioned to the four in the couch, holding out a card towards Iris.

"I think I've got it understood enough," she nodded. "I'll give it a shot."

"Count me in," Cilan leaned forward, putting his wine glass onto the table. "Let's see what you've got."

"Me too," May raised her hand.

"Ally?" Brock asked as he passed out the cards.

"No thanks," she politely declined. "I'll just watch."

When Brock went to give Misty her first card, she tossed it back, saying, "I'm going to take a break. I need a drink."

"Wanna grab me one toooooo?" Ash sang, twirling his empty eggnog glass in his hand as she stood up.

"Ohhhh, what are you going to do for me?" She mused thoughtfully, smirking down at him.

"Whatever you want! A days free pass with my full attention!" He offered, holding up the glass.

Dawn whistled, "You better take that kind of deal Misty."

"I suppose I should," she giggled. "Oh, alright."

She took his glass and headed for the kitchen. Ash called after her, "You're the best!"

"I know," she called back with a wink. As Ash turned his attention to the four cards that now lay in front of him, something peculiar caught his eye. Logan was crouched behind the Christmas tree, looking for something. He was just about to call to his son, but something else caught his attention once more. A hand! Attached to a...metal snake? Coming from the air vent on the ceiling?

Oh wait...giving it a better look over, he recognized it to be Clemont's Clemontic gear. It was indeed lowering itself out of the air vent, holding between its fingers...was that a mistletoe? Squinting his eyes, Ash decided, yes it was. Now he was puzzled, and was about to point it out, but the hand hovered above everyone, just out of sight for the people too busy looking at their cards.

The mechanical hand stopped just above the lemon blonde girl sitting cross legged on the floor, who was oblivious to the mistletoe now hanging above her head as she plucked a card and played it. It shifted ever so slightly to the right, now hovering equal distance between Bonnie and Max. Its pinky finger pointed out to Ash, and then down to Bonnie a few times. Getting the message, Ash blankly said, "Uh, Bonnie. I think you should look up?"

She looked up to him, as did every other pair of eyes around the table, and when they saw Ash was looking above Max and Bonnie's heads, they all turned to see why. You could count the seconds it took for Bonnie's brain, which paralyzed itself at the sight, to react.

"Well, well, well," Dawn started immediately with a wide smirk. "Look who's under the mistletoe!"

From top to bottom, the lemon blonde girl turned an incredible shade of red, almost emitting a wave of heat off her scalp.

"Oh no, we-" was all she got out when Max's lips pressed against her cheek. Her reactions were comical. At first her embarrassed expression went blank, then her face was plastered in a wide toothy grin, then it morphed back to embarrassment, and finally anger. "Clemont!"

Apparently settling on getting herself a quick moment to process her own mind, she settled on yelling for her brother, and rocketed to her feet. Like a bullet she was gone and sprinting through the house, intent on finding Clemont and ripping him a new one. The mechanical hand reeled back towards the air vent, catching on the corner and snapping from the metal arm. It hung limp from the vent near the Christmas tree, swaying in place with the mistletoe still between its fingers.

The group around the coffee table laughed, and Ally gave her Uncle a high five, which Max returned victoriously. The commotion caught the attention of Gary, Serena, Cameron, and Simon, who immediately joined in the laughter once they were told what happened. Somewhere deep inside the Ketchum home, Clemont's voice echoed through in a high pitched scream, followed by Bonnie shouting, "You know you can't outrun me!"

* * *

Misty entered the kitchen and paused, her eyes noticing a mess of cookie crumbs that were scattered across her floor and countertop. A dozen cupcakes were sitting upside down on the pearlescent layer, their frosting squished out in all directions. She spotted her son slumped against the counter, wearing a blank expression with dried pudding on his face. She scowled, "Really Kaiden? Did you eat too many sweets again?."

His only reply was, "I don't know."

She set her and Ash's glasses on the table, heading for the drawer by the sink that held the dishrags, "And did you have to be so damn messy? I swear you eat just like your father used too."

Fishing out a small brown towel, she wet it under the sink and tossed it to her son. He didn't move to catch it, or even acknowledge that it was coming his way. Smacking him right in the face with a wet slap, and wrapping around the sides of his head. He jerked back wildly, and thumped his head against the cabinet with a dull thud.

"OW!" He shouted, rubbing the back of his scalp as the rag fell into his lap. He blinked a few times and looked up to his mother standing over him, frowning down at him with her hands on her hips. "What? What happened?"

"Like you said," she started, chastising him deeply. "I don't know. Now pick up your mess and slow down on the sweets."

He blinked again as he picked the towel off his lap and she returned to the table for the glasses, "Pick up…my…" His confusion reached a new height as he saw the state of the kitchen, and when he spotted Ally's abandoned plate of pudding on the floor by the cookies he had dropped, his gut lurched forward. "Mess…" he finished. "Oh crap."

"Oh crap is right," Misty scolded him, pulling open the fridge and bending down to peer inside for the eggnog. "You don't have to worry about it tonight as long you clean up the mess, but if you destroy my kitchen again, there will be He-…where is the eggnog?"

Her fingers gripped the handle on the fridge deathly tight, turning her knuckles white as she cocked her head back to glare terrifyingly at her son. Her face was hidden in shadow from her bangs, and eyes seemed to glow red, making Kaiden instantly sweat.

"What? I don't know! I swear!" He pleaded for her to believe him, throwing his hands up in surrender and accidentally slapping himself with the wet towel. "Del said she wanted to try it this year!"

 _KAIDEN! Why did you just tell your mother that?!_

"She, said, what?" Misty's tone was dangerously low as she stood back up, slowly shutting the fridge in an intimidating way only the fiery red head could.

"Um-"

"Where is your sister now?" Misty asked, putting both glasses onto the countertop one at a time, clinking the bottom against the hard top. Which sounded way more threatening than it should have.

"I..I'm not sure?" He replied shakily, half wishing he could hide behind the wet towel, or sink into the floor.

"Clean your mess," she told him, her tone flat and hard to read. Then she casually walked out of the kitchen, leaving a haunting presence behind her. Kaiden swallowed, feeling the relief wash over him, but it was back almost as fast as it came. He was dead no matter what…Del would kill him now.

"Fuck…" he muttered

* * *

"Why did you bring it with us?!" Del exclaimed in a panic, running a hand through her raven hair, practically undoing her ponytail. "We're dead, we are SO dead!

"I didn't know what to do!" Brent defended himself, brandishing the eggnog out like it was a bomb. "We couldn't let the kids see it, so I just took it!"

"OhmyGodohmyGodohmyGodohmyGod," Darcy rambled, her arms wrapped around her torso as she stared at the carton.

The three of them stood outside on the back porch, shivering in the cold night air as they had left their heavy coats inside on the coat rack in the living room. Del's icy breath billowed before her, a perfect example of the dread in her gut.

"What are we going to do?!" Brent asked, looking between Del and his sister continuously. "We have to do something!"

"OhmyGodohmyGodohmyGod-"

"Alright," Del said loudly, throwing up her hands, closing her eyes, and inhaling slowly through her nose. "Let's just take a breath and relax. All we have to do is put it back before anyone notices its gone, right?"

"Can we pull that off?" the pink haired boy questioned. "I mean your dad inhales the stuff like a vacuum. He could've already went into the kitchen to get more!"

"Or he could be doing that any moment," Del countered, folding her arms and putting her hands under her armpits for more warmth. "So we need to get it back in there ASAP!"

"And if they already know?" Darcy stopped her muttering to ask, her teeth chattering.

"Then kiss your ass goodbye," was Del's answer. She hadn't meant for it to sound so harsh, but between the cold and her panic, that was basically an impossible feat. "Let's do this."

She spun and gripped the door handle, pulling open the screen door so she could open the main door. Brent and Darcy moved close behind her, better to block the wind, and to rush inside and get their task done. Del pushed open the door, and her blood froze in her veins, color draining from her face. Coming down the hall, with a look of pure fury and aquamarine eyes filled with fire, was Misty.

"Delia Violet Ketchum!" She called like a courthouse judge about to sentence someone to death.

"AAAAHHHHHH" The teenager in question screamed and slammed the door shut, turning to her two friends. "RUN!"

They had barely taken a step off the rear porch when the screen door slammed open, and Misty burst from the house like an inferno. In her fear, Del could swear her mother sounded like a raging Tyranitar, bearing down on its prey with fangs dripping blood.

The teens slipped in the snow as they ran around the side of the house towards the front, no destination in mind, no long term plan, simply running to keep themselves alive just a little longer. A flash of light erupted behind them, and cutting them off ten feet ahead, a mighty Gyarados materialized in their path. Landing beside the various vehicles parked in the driveway. It roared deafeningly, but Misty's voice could be heard above the sound, "Block them!"

The behemoth water dragon roared and slammed its tail in a circle around the teens, making them slide to a stop and smack into the large scals of the Pokemon. Del spun to go the other way, and came face to face with her mother, who was practically breathing fire. She squeaked and tried to step back, slipping in the snow and falling against Gyarados' scales again. Brent and Darcy cowered to the side, shivering from the cold and from the rage of Misty. Their initial fear of Gyarados now replaced by the fury radiating from the orange haired woman, who took a step closer to her daughter.

"I have half a mind to tear your ass into next year," she started into Del, a finger raising and poking the teen in the chest. "Drinking alcohol, stealing from me and your father, hiding the fact and running!"

By this point, the front door had swung open, and the occupants of the house came rushing out to investigate the commotion. Ash was first, jumping down from the porch and nearly slipping to his rump in the snow, but he maintained his composure and ran to Misty. Gary stood off the porch in the snow, and Serena was halted halfway down the steps. Dawn stopped at the top, a hand gripping the railing worriedly. Kaiden was beside her, still holding the wet towel, and Ally stepped up beside him, a fist clenched at her chest. Brock, Max, May, Cameron, Iris, Cilan, Bonnie, and Clemont, who was holding his back pack from using it to prank his sister, stood behind the two teens. Simon leaned against the railing, ready to vault over and assist if need be. Missing, were the three youngest who had yet to appear outside.

"What the Hell is going on?" Ash shouted as he skidded to a stop by his wife. His eyes quickly examined the scene, seeing the teenagers cowering against Gyarados from Misty, shivering from the cold and their own horror. In Brent's hands was the eggnog carton, and Ash blinked when he saw it.

"Tell him," Misty demanded to her daughter with a glare, and then turned to the twins. "You two too, tell your father."

Brock gently pushed his way through the small crowd and stepped off the porch, passing Serena and Gary.

"Tell me what?" He asked concerned as he walked up beside Ash.

The teens looked back and forth, between the three adults one after another. Each face was different, where as Misty's was one of rage, Ash's was confusion, and Brock's was calculating. For a moment the entire group waited with anxious breath for the revelation of what had happened.

"We-" Brent stammered.

"We-" Darcy did too.

"We stole you're eggnog Dad!" Del cried, her brown eyes wide with fear and despair, on the verge of crying. "We stole it, and we drank it, and we're..we're..." A tear fell free from her eye, trailing down her cheek as she sniffed loudly, "We're sorry!"

She dropped to her knees in the snow, burying her face in her hands and letting her now completely loose black hair fall around her. Hiding her from view.

"Us too!" The twins cried, looking down away from their father.

"You...stole...the eggnog?" Ash questioned slowly, knitting his brow as he processed each word in his own head as he said them. Then, he laughed, a loud booming laugh that caught everyone completely off guard.

"I fail to see how this is funny!" Misty shouted at him, throwing her arms into the air. "Your child consumed alcohol, without our permission! And she stole it to do so, you-"

Ash cut her off by raising a finger and pointing to himself, still grinning wildly, "When she's in trouble, she's suddenly only mine? I bet you did the exact same thing she just did when you were her age."

Misty's cheeks flushed, "That's not the point!"

"No, it's not," Ash laughed again. "But it's funny. Anyway, the eggnog-"

CRASH! Something large and heavy collapsed inside the house, glass shattering and piercing the night air outside. Those closest to the door jumped the harshest, with Serena slipping on the snow covered steps and falling backwards. Gary leapt forward and caught her, stopping her from hitting the wooden steps. Ash's smiling face vanished and he bolted for the house, covering the yard in record time. He rocketed up the steps, jumping over Serena as Gary helped her up, and shoved through the backs of everyone else. Dawn hurried after him, followed by Kaiden and then Ally.

Misty suddenly noticed Logan, Sam, and Lily were not outside, and something inside her broke in a frenzied panic. She took off for the house, forgetting about her daughter, the twins, and Gyarados. Having been so far away, she was one of the last ones back inside, coming in behind Gary, with Del, Darcy, and Brent running inside behind her and letting the door slam shut.

The Christmas tree was crumpled on top of the coffee table, smashing it flat to the floor. Ornaments of glass and plastic lay shattered in pieces all over the room, and the star from atop the tree sat on the middle of the couch. Drinks were now spilled and soaking into the carpet, and pine needles lay everywhere. Logan was crawling though the branches of the tree, grunting and groaning as he chased something small and fast. Sam and Lily came racing into the living room, oblivious the the crowd of people in the doorway.

"Hold on Logan!" Sam shouted, diving headfirst into the top of the tree and cutting of the small creatures escape. It squeaked and shot out of the side, scattering even more pine needles across the carpet. A Nidoran smacked headfirst into Ash's feet, squeaking and turning the other way, only to be blocked off by Lily, who dove to grab it. The Pokémon ran to the right, avoiding the girl who slammed into Ash much like the Nidoran had.

She squeaked at the sudden impact, and peered up at his towering figure, he blinked down at her, "Wha-"

"Incoming!" Logan bellowed, bursting from the tree and hurtling over the back of the couch after the Nidoran. The Pokémon saw him attempting to head it off and changed course, circling back and sprinting towards the hall. Logan crashed to the carpet, getting the breath knocked out of him.

Sam exploded out of the downed tree, in perfect rang and angle to snatch the Pokémon as it ran by. Another two inches and he'd of had it, but something strong gripped the back of his shirt and halted his progress just as a hand entered his field of view and snatched the Nidoran up. Sam was hauled to his feet and planted before his father, who scowled down at him with an angry eye.

"What in the Hell?" Were the growling words that left Gary's throat, who still had his fingers gripped into the back of his sons shirt. Sam gulped and looked away to his mother for any kind of support, but Serena was wearing the same angered expression as Gary, with her arms crossed.

"Oh my God!" Misty shrieked as her eyes looked over the ruined living room. "LOGAN!"

He popped up from behind the couch. Frowning at first, but then the color drained from him as he saw everyone's eyes on him, and the state of the room.

"I can explain-" was all he was able to say, before his mother was across the room and baring down on him like an angry Charizard.

"DON'T YOU DARE SAY IT!" She roared, face flushed with anger. Her fingers gripped her hair, pulling it and stressing the roots. "I-YOU-WHAT-...AAAGGHHHHH!"

She threw her hands out in a ' _What the Hell_ ' gesture, "Explain why you were chasing a Nidoran in my living room?!"

"You just said not to explain," the young boy pointed out timidly.

"I SAID EXPLAIN!"

The ferocity of her shout practically shook the very foundation of the home. Ash took a step forward, hoping to call the rage of his wife, "Misty, it's-"

A loud bang made all of them jump as the door was flung open, and a tall man stumbled in. He had spiky red hair, piercing dark eyes, and his dark clothing was tattered and frayed. A cloak hung loosely off his back in the same condition. Patches of dried blood covered his torso, and he nearly collapsed as he stumbled inside.

"Lance?!" Dawn was the first to respond, rushing forward to catch the man before he could fall.

"DAD?!" Lily was next, getting up and shoving past Ash to help.

"What the Hell happened?" Cameron asked next, moving to assist. Dawn pulled one of Lance's arms around her shoulders, while Cameron did the same to the other. Lily scrambled about in front of them, looking up worriedly into her fathers tired face.

"Barely...got...away..." the man breathed out with a pained face. "But I won..."

"Get him into the bedroom," Ash told them. "Brock can take a look at him. May, call an ambulance."

"Right," she nodded and bolted across the room for the telephone. Brock cleared the way of any debris while Dawn and Cameron hauled Lance across the living room with Lily right behind them. Cilan said something about helping Brock with his own medical expertise, and raced to assist. Both Sam and Logan took a step to follow their friend, but Serena and Misty gripped their respective child's shoulder to stop them.

Max frowned and sniffed the air, "Hey..."

Ash, who was about to follow Lance, stopped and faced him.

"Do you guys smell smoke?" he asked, blinking perplexed behind his glasses.

As if on cue, a loud, earsplitting ring from the smoke detectors pierced the household as a wave of black smoke wafted out of the kitchen. Unable to form any words by this point, Ash shouted an unintelligible phrase and bolted across the room. Shards of glass and unbroken ornaments shattered beneath his feet, but he didn't slow down. Stopping only by physically sliding into the doorframe, he threw his hands up as flames danced through the kitchen. Something wooden cracked somewhere inside the inferno, and he reached for a PokeBall.

"Totodile! Put out the fire!" He shouted, releasing his trusty water Pokemon, already sweating from the heat. Sensing the danger, it didn't do its normal dance routine, opting to unleash a powerful water gun the minute the little gator fully materialized.

Misty was by his side now, heart racing at the site of the ceiling high flames, and she tossed her own PokeBall, "Help me out Starmie!"

The purple starfish emerged with a proud salute, and combined its water with Totodile's. The smoke began to waft its way through the rest of the home, and Ash faintly heard May shout into the phone, "AND THE FIRE DEPARTMENT!"

One by one, the rest of the group began to release their Pokémon. Kaiden released a Pidgeotto, instructing it to keep the flames low with a controlled gust. Ally released her Azurill, having it focus on the edges of the fire. Bonnie and Max released Froakie and Marshtomp, combining their water power with Ash and Misty. Gary passed the Nidoran off to Serena and told her to keep the kids back, while he released his Umbreon and told it to try and manipulate the flames with Psychic. Del, Darcy, and Brent released a Seal, Corsola, and Geodude, instructing them to keep the fire from spreading. May quickly hung up the phone and released Glaceon, assisting Ally with the base of the fire. Not having any Pokémon to really help the situation, Iris hung back with Serena, putting her hand on Logan's shoulder and making sure he wouldn't rush forward. Clemont ran up with a PokeBall in hand, only to stop short as the pack he was still carrying beeped loudly, and a polite female voice said, "Fire detected. Activating Clemontic super fire suppression mode."

"What? Wait! No-" he shouted, but it was too late. Four hoses shot out through the top of the bag, pointing towards the fire. For a fraction of a second, time stood still as every pair of eyes turned. Then...

"Activated."

The hoses let forth a powerful stream of foam, correctly doing their job for the first few seconds. But without anything to hold them in place, they began to whip wildly, spraying the white paste everywhere. They flailed like strings in a powerful wind storm, and the bag trembled violently under their power, causing it to slip from Clemont's fingers. Shortly the sounds of a raging fire subsided, replaced with the spewing of foamy water, and then it was over. The hoses ran out of foam, and collapsed into a pile on top of the bag.

All was quiet, the silence only broken by the steady drip drip of the foam falling from the ceiling. Ash wiped his face, flicking the paste from his hand. His brown eyes glanced around the room, seeing the aftermath of the chaos. His living room and kitchen were covered, _completely covered_ , in the foam. The furniture and fallen tree looked like mounds of fast melting snow as the foam subsided. The other occupants of the house wiped away the stuff from their eyes, blinking as the insane sight greeted them. Misty's mouth fell open, and closed, gaping like a Magikarp out of water. The fire was out, meaning everyone's adrenaline was beginning to come down, and their expression's resembled the orange haired woman.

Footsteps raced down the hall, and Cameron appeared on high alert, and PokeBall in hand. He paused at the sight, utterly bewildered, and said, "What...the Hell...happened?"

* * *

Everything was settled down, for the most part. The majority of everyone was outside shivering from the cold and still wiping foam from themselves, with the exception of Lance, Dawn, and Lily. Heartbeats were fairly normal, adrenaline was in check, and the kids had been lined up and scolded. Stories certainly needed explaining, answers were far past due, and Misty was going to make damn sure she had answers.

Before she could however, the entire emergency response team arrived on the scene. A dozen police cruisers, a couple of fire trucks, and the ambulance May had originally dialed for. After a quick assessment of the situation, paramedics rushed in to check on Lance, and firemen examined the home to be sure it was safe. Officer Jenny drilled everyone with questions, intent on discovering if there had been foul play. Only when the firemen returned and confirmed that the stove simply caught fire, did she back down.

The paramedics declared Lance was indeed injured, but nothing too terribly serious, and he elected to stay in the home and not travel to the hospital. Shortly after, the firemen returned with news that the damage was mainly cosmetic with minimal structure damage. They seemed the home safe to be in, which greatly relieved Ash and Misty. With the fire out, and Lance's decision made on his own health, the emergency personnel took their leave, giving Ash and Misty information about getting started on kitchen repairs tomorrow. As soon as the last police cruiser pulled out of their drive, Misty rounded on the kids. The time had come for answers.

She decided to start at the beginning, and went down the line. Starting with Del, Brent, and Darcy, which she mainly scolded for stealing alcohol. A lightbulb went off in Ash's head, and he interrupted his wife's shouting, "Oh! I was saying earlier that I didn't spike the eggnog this year."

Misty rounded on her husband to yell at him for interrupting, "You-" Misty's anger blanked, and her face fell flat, "What?"

He shrugged, "I didn't spike it this year. Didn't get around to it. It's bad they stole it sure, because their intentions were bad, but there wasn't technically any harm."

Del, Darcy, and Brent shifted their weight to look at each other blankly.

"Regardless," Misty's anger came back as she turned away from Ash and back to the teens. "Don't you ever do anything like that again! Understand?!"

"Yes," the three of them chanted sullenly.

"I am very disappointed in you two," Brock added with a solemn tone. "But I suppose you've learned your lesson?"

The twins nodded, and Del joined in, flinging foam from the back of their heads. Brock nodded once to show he was satisfied with the outcome of their situation, and took a step back so Misty could tear into Logan. Gary and Serena stood in front of Sam, Serena's arms were folded while Gary held the now calmed down Nidoran. Both of them wore ' _I demand an explanation_ ' glares, and had foam trailing down their coats.

"Explain why there was a Nidoran in my house," Misty demanded, crossing her own arms as she stared down at her son. His eyes were hidden under his orange bangs, but she continued, "And how did you destroy my coffee table along with the Christmas tree?"

"The Nidoran was at my lab," Gary explained when it took Logan a while to find his words. "It was sick and the boys were helping me take care of it."

"We hid it in one of the gift bags," Sam added with a mutter, making Gary raise a brow.

"I..." Logan looked up to his mother teary eyed. "I wanted to show it to Lily."

"So we brought it," Sam finished.

"That doesn't explain the tree," Serena noted, tapping her foot in the snow. The boys took turns telling them the story. About seeing the Nidoran rush by Ally after it had woken up, how they searched for it, and how it ran through the kitchen and stumbled across the stove.

"That must be how the oven caught fire," Gary deduced. "Nidoran must've accidentally turned it on."

Logan continued to tell his story, about how after everyone ran outside to investigate Gyarados' roar, he found Nidoran back under the tree. It panicked when it saw him and tried to climb up the small branches. He jumped up to grab it without thinking and the sudden extra weight caused the tree to fall. Misty, Gary, and Serena accepted the story, but they agreed there would be severe consequences after the holidays. And they would be telling Dawn of Lily's part in their mishap. With that settled, Misty moved on to Kaiden, who still had a small trail of pudding on his face that the foam didn't clean off of him.

"I suppose you no longer can clean your mess in the kitchen," she said with a short tone and a sigh. "So you'll be cleaning the entire house once repairs are done."

He blinked once, "My mess? Wait! That was Nido-"

"Ahp ahp ahp," she held up her finger. "No more excuses from any of you tonight. My brain can't handle it anymore."

"But, I-" he attempted one last time, except his mother had stormed away, rubbing her temple as she went. Ash shot his son a half smile.

"Sorry buddy," he said, and went after his wife because she was surely going need a small bit of comfort after all the _excitement_.

Kaiden's shoulders slumped and he looked utterly devastated, "But I didn't actually do anything..."

A warm presence leaned close to him, canceling out the chilly night air. Ally's breath tickled his neck as she whispered, "I'll help you clean. In payment for smashing pudding on your face."

She leaned away and smiled at him, and he smiled back, making her heart flutter.

"Thanks," he said.

Leaning against the porch railing by her husband, May elbowed him and whispered in his ear, "Notice that our kids were the behaved ones?"

"Don't gloat about it too loudly," Cameron whispered back with a wink, and wrapped his arm around her shoulder to pull her close.

* * *

"I still think you should've went to the damn hospital," Dawn growled as she dabbed at the last still bleeding wound on Lance's chest. He looked to have been mauled by an Ursaring. Which according to him, he had.

"They couldn't have done anything that can't be done here," he countered, wincing as the alcohol on her gauze burned his bleeding flesh. He was lying on Ash and Misty's bed with his shirt raised, while Dawn sat on the edge and cleaned him up. Lily stood at the foot, wringing her hands from the tension sparking between her parents.

The bluenette fumed, "Why can't you ever just cooperate with someone else?"

"For the same reason you have to jump down my throat about everything," he shot back with a glare.

"I do not-"

"Just stop it!" The outburst came from Lily, along with a loud smack as she slapped her palms against the bedpost. Both adults started, turning to see their daughter's head pointed down and her face hidden behind her fire like hair. Her shoulders jerked once, and she inhaled shakily before running from the room.

Dawn's heart shattered as her daughter's footsteps faded down the hall, and her eyes began to burn. Lance's face was as hard as stone, gaze fixed upon the door and not moving or blinking. They sat there in silence, shame penetrating deep for their behavior in front of Lily. The bluenette shifted uncomfortably, peaking at Lance from the corner of her eye. He was still motionless, and his jaw was clenched tight.

"What happened?" she asked in a whisper.

Now he moved, jerking his head to face her. His expression was still one of stone, but his eyes grew softer, "What?"

"To you," she motioned to the cuts and bruises that littered his torso. Truthfully, she wasn't sure if that was what she had meant by the question, and judging by the way Lance's eyes shifted, he wasn't either.

He gave her an answer however, "We got a report that Crimson was inside Victory Cave. For whatever reason, it couldn't be good. So I went in-"

"Alone?" She interrupted, clearly not pleased with that bit of news.

"Yes, alone," he confirmed sharply. "I was not about to send in a team that I'd already said could head home for the Holiday's. If I found Crimson to be up to something I couldn't handle, then I would call them back in."

Dawn twisted her gauze, but didn't say anything, unable to find an argument for his logic other than it was dumb. Which wouldn't work with his stubbornness anyway.

"Anyway," he continued. "I found them, attempting to capture an Ursaring. I stopped them, but the Pokemon was in a panic, and well-" he motioned to himself. "You know the rest."

"How did you get here?" She asked, and then frowned. "And why did you come here? Wouldn't the Plateau have been closer?"

Lance's stone expression faltered, and he let slip a half smile, "That actually wasn't intentional. Naturally I would have gone back to the League, but as I was getting away from Ursaring, I ran directly into a Kadabra. I was in a tangled up mess with it, and couldn't get away. It saw Ursaring charging us, and teleported away. I landed in the snow with Kadabra just up the hill, and recognized Misty's Gyarados when I heard it roar. So I realized I must be in Pallet."

Dawn blinked a few times, was he serious? "That…that's the most ridiculous adventure you've ever told me yet."

"It's the truth," he told her with a light chuckle, that he ceased immediately as it hurt his ribs.

"What happened to Kadabra?"

"It fled into the wild," he shrugged. "Honestly I don't know. Once I knew where I was, I knew I needed help so I headed this way in a pretty big hurry."

His eyes told her he was being truthful, and her heart felt heavy. Her first instinct was to not believe him, thinking he was trying to keep some sort of secret from her. She sighed, closing her eyes and lowering her head. There had not been a peaceful moment between them since the day they split, and the tension was becoming almost unbearable.

"We need to get along, just for tonight," she half whispered.

"I was thinking the same thing," his voice replied, making her look back up. "For Lily."

Dawn nodded, "She deserves better from us. A real Christmas with all of her family in one place." Lance's brow furrowed, indicating he didn't understand, so she elaborated, "Everyone in this house tonight is family, Lance. That includes you."

His stone face softened immensely as she said those words, and he looked away, "I haven't always acted like family…."

"I can't argue that," she agreed, but gave his side a shove with her elbow. A sign of playful behavior, but it didn't have the desired effect. Lance winced harshly and inhaled sharply through his teeth. Dawn realized her error, and squeaked, "Oh! I'm so sorry! I forgot!"

"Yea, I'd say so," he grunted out, but forced a smile no less. His eyes locked on hers, and she couldn't help but smile back. The weight in her heart began to subside, not all of it, no where near that amount, but enough that just for tonight…things could be normal between them.

* * *

Misty pulled her hair, kicked her foot through the snow, and collapsed against the side of her home. Hidden around the corner in shadow, she fought off the tears that threatened to fall. Tonight had been a disaster, and it had happened so suddenly without warning. How had she lost control of the situation so fast? She growled and punched the wooden frame, sending a jolt of pain into her knuckles and down her arm, but she didn't feel it. Footsteps crunched snow behind her, and had she not recognized the walking pattern, she would have exploded in a fit of rage to be left alone. Strong arms wrapped around her, pulling her back into the chest of a warm body. A chin rested on her shoulder, and a tuft of black hair came into view at the corner of her eye.

Ash's voice spoke softly in her ear, "Everything turned out ok. You don't have to beat yourself up so bad."

"Who says I am?" She asked, trying to sound annoyed, but it didn't work. She folded her arms to try and add to the effect.

"Because I know you," he said, his hot breath tickling her ear. "Yea, things almost got really bad, but they didn't. We have an amazing support system of friends, and they all jumped in to help. Things might have gotten a bit crazy, but we handled it fairly well I think."

"Our kitchen is a burnt crisp, and our home is covered in foam," she shot out, her voice trembling. "And our kids somehow thought it would be alright to steal and lie."

His arms pulled back, stopping when his hands were on her shoulders. With a little force, he turned her around so he could see her face. She glared up at him, jutting her jaw out in annoyance. He smiled at her, and lifted his hand to brush a strand of orange hair behind her ear, completely disarming her of hostility. Her expression fell, and she dropped her forehead to his chest. His arms wrapped back around her, and he gently rubbed her back as she cuddled into his torso.

"They messed up, yea," he began, his chest vibrating against her cheek as he spoke. "But they're kids. They don't think past the length of their arms. Didn't I used to do the same thing? As you so kindly remind me almost daily."

"And you still don't," she said muffled into him.

He chuckled once, "True. But my point is, they're great kids, the kitchen can be rebuilt, and the house can be cleaned. What tonight proved to me, is that even if something crazy happens, we can count on everyone to help. We've been through worse than a fire and a bit of Holiday madness. You know next year we'll be gathered around the dinner table, laughing about how insane this year turned out to be. Look at it like that, that tonight will be a hilarious memory for our many more Christmas' to come."

She put her palms against his chest and gently pushed back just enough to look up into his brown eyes. He smiled down at her, using that crooked smile of his to warm her heart.

"Oh, alright," she conceded. "I survived you when we were kids, I suppose I can survive tonight."

"Hey!"

She giggled, "Take the compliment, Ketchum."

"Only if you kiss me, and promise to not let tonight bother you too much," he offered, smirking.

She let out an overdramatic sigh, and rolled her eyes like she didn't necessarily want to do as he proposed. "Oh, I guess. If I must."

Then she smiled and leaned up, pressing her lips to his and falling into their warmth.

* * *

Things were back to normal, for the most part. After Ash and Misty returned to the front of the house, they were greeted by Kaiden, Del, and Logan first. With the rest of the group standing behind them, including Dawn and Lance, with Lily standing between them happily. Everyone seemed to be waiting and eager, and two power cords lay at Del's feet in the snow, making Misty raise a brow.

"What's going on?" She asked, turning to Ash, who stared blankly. He shrugged when he noticed she was asking him.

"We didn't get to finish putting up all the decorations earlier today," Del explained to her mother, putting her hands together in front of her at her waist.

"With the snowball fight and all," Kaiden added unnecessarily.

"So we all pitched in and finished them," Logan finished with a fist pump. "Wanna see?"

"Wait, you put up the rest of the decorations?" Misty asked bewildered. "Just now?"

"It was easy with everyone else helping," Del told her mother, giving a glance back to the group. Gary crossed his arms like it had been an annoying task, while Sam and Serena smiled and made a victory pose. Brock folded his arms much like Gary, but he was smiling while Brent and Darcy shoved each other with their elbows playfully. May and Cameron fist bumped the side of their fists, while Ally and Simon simply smiled at Misty. Bonnie jumped up excitedly, bumping into Max, who adjusted his glasses and nodded. Clemont reeled in his Clemontic Gear, which was apparently hanging up one last thing. Iris and Cilan both gave a thumbs up, smirking wildly. Lance pointed low profile towards Dawn and Lily, who both threw up two fingers in a V with a wink.

Ash grinned wide, a toothy grin that was reminiscent from when he was ten. Misty felt herself tearing up again, but for a completely different reason this time. She quickly wiped her eye, and smiled.

"Turn em on! Turn em on!" Bonnie exclaimed happily, dancing in place. "I'm ready to see!"

A collective agreement murmured through the group, and the three Ketchum kids exchanged happy looks.

"Alright, here we go!" Del shouted in excitement, and bent down to pick up the power cords at her feet. She plugged them together, and the yard exploded in a rainbow of colors. Up the driveway, and the path to the porch, different inflatable Pokemon lamps perched like statues. Shining, and changing colors, giving them a lifelike appearance. The trees and bushes flickered like the stars above, having lights strung through them that faded in and out to give the illusion of Mankey in the trees, and Chikorita in the bushes.

Different decorative lights had been placed randomly in the yard. A Charmander, with a Santa hat on it's head, shined with a brilliant orange color. A Delibird, handing out a present that was animated to seem as if it were tossing it to someone, changed between red and green. Dozens of smaller Pokemon were scattered across the yard. A Golem dressed up like Santa, a Mankey jumping into the air, and even an amazing display of the three Legendary Birds flying in circles around each other. Their elements trailing behind them in a beautiful show.

The house lit up brilliantly, displaying the string of multicolored lights shaped like Pokemon Ash had hung up earlier that day. Water Pokemon like Squirtle and Goldeen glowed a bright blue, while fire Pokemon like Cyndaquil and Ponyta flickered a shining red. But what caught his attention was the light show on the roof. A sleigh, being pulled by a lone Stantler, with a Santa dressed Pikachu in the ride. It was animated so that the Pikachu was laughing and smiling, tossing presents out of the side while the Stantler ran in place.

His heart swelled at the sight, and his throat began to burn. A feminine hand slipped into his, and squeezed. He turned to Misty, seeing her looking back with the most God awful crying face he had ever seen. But it was beautiful. Her face was lit up, and her aquamarine eyes sparkled from the light show.

"You were right," she said. "Everything did turn out ok."

"It sure did," he said, squeezing her hand back, and pulling her closer to his side. Del, Kaiden, and Logan moved to stand by their parents, smiling at their work on the decorations. Misty let go of Ash's hand and swooped in to crush her children in a breathtaking hug.

* * *

Cleanup had gone off smoothly. Everyone worked together to clear out the foam, and make the living room presentable once again. They swept up glass, scrubbed the carpet, and stood the tree back upright. It was much less decorated than before, since only a third of the ornaments hadn't shattered, but it looked perfect to the eyes of everyone there.

Gary had left to retrieve some more drinks and sweets to snack on, seeing as no one was allowed in the kitchen for the rest of the night, and everyone now sat around the living room. The three youngest kids sat where the coffee table used to be, since it was in splinters and had been hauled outback until it could be thrown away, and they played happily with the Nidoran. Which was enjoying the attention now that it wasn't in a panic.

Kaiden stood off by the tree, smiling at the sight of his friends and family having a good time again. No longer fazed by the earlier events. People were laughing, playing games, or swapping stories. Their regular Christmas program had gotten back to normal, but that night would certainly be talked about for many years to come.

Ally sidled up beside the middle Ketchum child, her hands behind her back and her eyes watching the room just like Kaiden. He felt her presence, but didn't say anything, opting to enjoy the moment of standing with her as they watched Logan tickle the Nidoran. And she didn't say anything either, however she did cast a glance his way. Watching him smile at his little brother, and getting a wide grin herself.

Finally though, she said, "Crazy night, huh?"

"You can say that again," he nodded.

"Crazy night, huh?"

"I didn't literally mean-" he turned to face her, laughing at first, but stopped all speaking when he locked eyes with her. His brain fumbled at the sight. Her bright green eyes twinkled softly, and her smile was warm. Brown hair cascaded down, laying across her right shoulder and enhancing the beauty Kaiden suddenly found himself staring at like an idiot. Seriously, how had he never noticed how pretty she was?

Someone cleared their throat, and both teens broke their stares to look for the source. Dawn and May sat on the couch, watching the two with raised brows and knowing smirks. May took a sip from her wine glass as the bluenette cleared her throat again and pointed up, motioning for the teens to look. They did, straight above their heads, and Kaiden's heart skipped a beat. Directly above them, hanging from the air vent, was Clemont's Clemontic Gear hand. Still gripping the mistletoe between its fingers.

"Oh…" he heard Ally whisper, and his eyes shot back to her. She was still looking up, but slowly her green eyes traveled down and landed on his anxious aquamarine ones. He couldn't read her expression, it was blank, but he could see thousands of thoughts behind her eyes. None of which he had any idea they were.

"Um-" he started to say, hoping his brain would come up with a quick way to get him of his situation, but Ally beat him to the punch. She swooped forward, and tilted her head, landing her lips on his cheek. Kaiden felt the fire erupt in his chest, and his face felt like it was about to melt. She pulled away, appearing much the same way he felt, and she giggled at his expression. Then she ran away, jumping into the middle of the room with Logan, Sam, and Lily. Distracting herself by playing with them and the Nidoran.

This had been a Christmas to remember. It had taught everyone a few lessons, and even a few them had discovered something about themselves they might not have otherwise. The middle Ketchum blinked a few times, and then broke into another smile. He was never going to wash his cheek again.

* * *

 **Well I hope everyone enjoyed it! I certainly did! For those of you haven't read my other stories, and you liked this one, be sure you check them out. Like I said, they all follow inside the same continuity since they are part of one overarching story.  
**

 **Regardless, be sure you let me know what you thought of this Christmas special!**

 **Merry Christmas, and Happy Holidays!**


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